The Goblet's Surprise
by furyvore
Summary: As part of the Triwizard Tournament, the Goblet of Fire may re-ignite after choosing the champions. This is a rare part of the choosing ceremony during which the goblet justifies its choices by showing something about each champion that influenced its decision.
1. Ch 01: The Trials of the Champions

**The Goblet 's Surprise**

Summary

As part of the Triwizard Tournament, the Goblet of Fire may re-ignite after choosing the champions. This is a rare part of the choosing ceremony during which the goblet justifies its choices by showing something about each champion that influenced its decision.

Chapter 1: The Trials of the Champions

It's dinner on the day after the champions were chosen. Harry had sent off his letter to Sirius earlier that day, when an announcement was made throughout the castle that all students were required to show up in the Great Hall at dinner time. If his presence wasn't mandatory, he would not be here. The dark looks he was getting from everybody outside of Gryffindor made him glad that he didn't come here for Breakfast and Lunch.

"Settle down!" yelled Dumbledore from the head table. He waited until the room quieted down before continuing.

"We are gathered here today for the next phase of the champion choosing process." said Dumbledore.

 _Next phase?_ Wondered Harry as murmuring broke out throughout the Great Hall. _I thought the decision was final yesterday._

Dumbledore waited for the hall to quiet down again before continuing, "The Goblet of Fire has re-ignited to signal that it will show all of us why it chose the champions that it did".

This unexpected turn of events caused more murmuring the break out throughout the Great Hall. Nobody said something like this could happen. The noise level dropped as soon as Dumbledore continued speaking. Nobody wanted to miss this.

"This happens only when the vast majority of the audience are questioning the choice of champions". Said Dumbledore, and many eyes turned to Harry making it quite clear who's place in the tournament was in question. Harry felt a spark of hope. _Is this some form of disqualification ritual for the tournament? Do I not have to compete after-all?_ Dumbledore's next words caused a smile to appear on Harry's face.

"The last time this happened, one of the champions was swapped out with another champion because the former one was deemed unworthy". Despite the fact that many were sending smug looks at Harry now, he was still feeling elated by the hope he won't need to compete. In fact, Harry's smile was causing some of the smug looks to turn into frowns. Dumbledore's next words caused Harry's frown to join the rest.

"The worthiness of a champion is determined by the level of personal danger that they have faced in their lives. The Goblet will pick a dangerous situation that the champion faced, and show it to all of us"

Harry became apprehensive at this statement. He hoped that the other champions have secretly faced dark lords, swarms of dementors, basilisks and acromantula hives so that his 'levels of danger' fall insignificant by comparison. Not to mention, he didn't feel like reliving any of his adventures himself.

"Since Mr. Krum was chosen first yesterday, we will start off with his memories", and just as Dumbledore finished, the Goblet of Fire (Harry wondered when it was brought in) shot a blue flame into the air, quite unlike the red flames it shot the day before. The blue flame curved in the direction of Krum, and made contact with his head. The contact was very brief, and as Krum flinched, the Goblet's flames retracted while carrying a stream of something blue from his head.

Harry couldn't decide if it was gas or liquid that the flames were holding, but he didn't have long to examine it before this strange substance was pulled into the goblet itself and out of sight. There were a few seconds of total silence before the Goblet's fires erupted again. Harry noticed Fleur tense, and pull her wand out, apparently ready to defend herself, but the Goblet had other ideas.

The flames kept spewing from the Goblet and expanding until they completely encased everybody in the great hall in one massive dome of flame. The flames suddenly changed color … or more accurately, they lost their color plunging them all into total darkness. A few people screamed, but before the panic could escalate any further, the color returned.

It wasn't the flames that returned. The flames appear to have formed a massive view-screen from which they were clearly looking through Krum's own eyes. It didn't take long for Harry to realize that they were re-watching the Quiddich World Cup from Krum's eyes.

Hermione screamed, and she wasn't the only one. Not only were they looking through Krum's eyes, but Harry clearly felt all turns that Krum made as though he was on the broom himself. Harry would normally find this enjoyable, but he quickly realized that he wasn't in control (he was watching a memory after all), and it quickly turned into something that more closely resembles a roller coaster, but far more stomach churning that any muggle roller coaster could ever hope to be.

Despite his panic of not being in control, Harry was beginning to enjoy the sensation of flying secure in the knowledge that Krum never crashed during the world cup. However that thought brought the image of a bloody Krum to mind, which then brought the image of Krum taking a bludger to the face. Harry suddenly became anxious again. _Just how realistic is this going to feel?_

It didn't take long to find out. No sooner had he thought that then he saw the Irish beater Quigley send the bludger that Harry knew he will never avoid … because Krum didn't avoid it that day. The bludger hit him full in the face, and Harry (despite it being a memory) felt his nose break with the same level of pain he became familiar with at the Dursleys. However, having been caught up in the memory, he just noticed that Lynch sped off towards the Snitch, and Harry himself was after him moments later.

There was another occasion when Harry flew after the snitch with a major injury back in his second year, and this felt very similar. Focusing all his attention on the snitch, Harry dulled his sense of pain the same way he did that day, while vaguely hearing screams around him. The moment Krum caught the snitch, the pain vanished, and so did the strange view-screen that the Goblet created.

There was silence.

People were touching their noses with perplexed expressions, and some were looking at Krum with a measure of respect Harry never saw them give Krum before. Clearly impressed with his catching of the snitch despite the severe level of pain that many of them could not have imagined until a few moments ago. It's one thing to intellectually know that Krum caught the snitch in severe pain. It's another to experience it.

Looking around, Harry noticed that both Fleur and Cedric were looking at Krum with concerned expressions, but Harry could tell that this was not concern for Krum himself. Could they be wondering if they can measure up to what they just witnessed?

Harry meanwhile had another concern. Dumbledore himself said that your worthiness is determined by the level of personal danger you faced. Despite his impressive resume in that regard, there is one incident that stands out in his minds eye. His fight with the Basilisk down in the Chamber of Secrets. He had never told anybody except Ginny (who witnessed it) that he was stabbed by one of the basilisk fangs and nearly died.

The pain he felt that day makes today's nose break look like child's play. On top of the pain was Harry's failing vision and his fight to remain conscious.

Will the whole school be forced to experience it? Will they hear his thoughts like they did with Krum?

He looked up, and locked eyes with Ginny. Judging by how white her face is, Harry can tell that she's thinking about the exact same thing.


	2. Ch 02: The Stale War

**The Goblet 's Surprise**

Summary

As part of the Triwizard Tournament, the Goblet of Fire may re-ignite after choosing the champions. This is a rare part of the choosing ceremony during which the goblet justifies its choices by showing something about each champion that influenced its decision.

Chapter 2: The Stale War

The one good thing to come from viewing Krum's perspective is that it took all the negative attention away from Harry. Everybody was so busy discussing the details of the match they witnessed for the second time that they all forgot to glare at Harry. It even served to distract Harry and Ginny from their apprehension about reliving the battle in the Chamber.

"Did you feel that Wronski Feint?", asked Ron, who had apparently forgotten his quarrel with Harry about putting his name into the Goblet. He had been reliving every part of the match, even the bludger to the nose incident. It's a phenomenon that Harry never ceased to be amazed by after recovering from an extremely painful injury. Whether it's a broken nose at the Dursleys, or the broken arm from the quidditch match of his second year, he could always remember the incident and not feel the pain as he did in the moment. It's like his memory remembers only a phantom pain. After getting over the shock of the pain yesterday, it became the most common topic of conversation when people discussed the match.

As dinner approached, Ron seemed to have remembered that he wasn't talking to Harry, who heard him regaling Seamus with a story about a giant chess set. He sent a dark look at Harry every time he mentioned this, and Harry understood. Ron was once again blaming him for being in the tournament. He was under the impression that the chess set they defeated on their way to the Philosophers Stone in their first year would have been shown if the Goblet had chosen Ron instead.

Harry wasn't so sure, it could just as easily show Sirius in dog form dragging him beneath the Whomping Willow. Harry, who had had enough of Ron behaving this way, decided to get some revenge in front of Seamus.

"You know Ron, it could still show your chess match. I was there remember?". They saw the entire Quidditch World Cup yesterday, so Harry presumed that if it did decide to show the Philosophers Stone adventure, it will start with Fluffy.

"But that also means they will show how you panicked on the Devils Snare".

Seamus, who was apparently skeptical about the chess set, now looked interested. Ron went quiet.

Harry, who was still enjoying the lack of glares he was receiving from the rest of the school population was disappointed to walk into dinner on the next day. Fleur was looking distinctly nervous, and Harry couldn't blame her. He wasn't looking forward to have his thoughts and experiences displayed to the public either.

Earlier that day, the Daily Prophet used Krum's memories as an excuse to revisit the Quidditch World Cup, and this caused Krum to be swarmed all day by fans, who was looking distinctly surly. Krum did, however, look to be happier now that everybody was quieting down in preparation for Fleur's memories. Harry could tell he's looking forward to having all the attention shift to Fleur.

This suddenly made Harry realize the downside to having been chosen last for the Tournament. If the Goblet is showing memories in the order the champions were chosen, then there will be no more memories after his to redirect the spotlight away from him. He will be in the spotlight again when this is all over. Harry resolved to enjoy his last two days of peace.

After a quick "Quiet down" by Dumbledore, the Goblet shifted it's arcing blue flame to Fleur, who like yesterday, was ready with her wand, and shot a spell at the incoming fire. The fire reacted by splitting into three smaller streams of fire that allowed the spell to pass between them harmlessly. The flames merged again

[= before hitting Fleur's head and extracting the blue liquid-gas thing again, and pulling it into the Goblet like it did with Krum the day before. Shortly after, the flaming view screen engulfed them all.

Harry, who was expecting to see out of Fleur's eyes was surprised instead to see what is unmistakably, a timeline. The timeline stretches from Fleur's birth all the way to present day, and a few 'pins' were placed on the timeline to indicate events of extreme personal danger. Harry soon noticed a disturbing pattern to these pins. They were all concentrated on her days prior to Beauxbatons and the summers. None of the pins showed up on Beauxbatons.

Harry noticed that Fleur was looking at one of the pins between her first and second years apprehensively. The Goblet, however, had other ideas and picked one of the pins that was located a few months before Fleur's first year, and the timeline dissipated. Expecting to be trust into a stressful situation, Harry was again surprised to find that Fleur's eyes opened to a history lesson provided by her own mother. Unlike Binns, Fleur's mother was actually a decent teacher, who regaled the story of a centuries-old war between the Veela and the Merpeople. These two races have been mortal enemies for who knows how long, but neither was ever able to get the upper hand on the other.

Harry had never studied French, and so it was a strange experience to hear words that were incomprehensible, but to be able to understand perfectly. It was as though he was having constant epiphanies as the raw meaning of what is being said somehow became known to him. This sensation continued as the history lesson progressed, but but the frequency of the epiphany feeling went down. Harry didn't know what to make of that, and continued to concentrate on the lesson itself.

Veela's fire magic weakens considerably underwater, but it is necessary to go underwater in order to attack the Merpeople's villages. And so, the Veela were never able to encroach on the territory of the Merpeople, or even hold it for long if they did manage to drive out a village.

On the other hand, while the Veela could not stay in the water for long periods of time, the Merpeople could not stay out of the water for long for the same reasons. They don't have magic, but they still need the water to breathe. Whenever the Merpeople attacked a Veela village, they would have to hold their breaths for long periods of time (something the Merpeople are uncannily good at).

This war has been going on for so long that the reasons for it have been lost over the centuries that it raged. Due to the inability for either side to gain any ground, the Veela have called it The Stale War. Soon after this impromptu history lesson, the entire viewscreen got warped by a fiery smoke as the scene shifted. Though there was no visual evidence of time changing, Fleur's memories feel like a few months have passed since the history lesson.

Her eyes opened to gaze on the walls of her room at one of their homes on the shores of a Merpeople village. Despite the dangers of living here, daddy doesn't trust anybody back home to look after her and Gabrielle due to their Veela heritage. So daddy took them here for one of his research missions to better understand the tactics of the Merpeople.

While the origins of the war are unknown, the Veela have noticed that the Merpeople are able to spend more time out of the water with each passing century. If they don't find a counter-measure soon, the Merpeople will be able to properly attack eventually. It's only a matter of time. For this reason, daddy's work is extremely important in order to preserve the future.

Their house is very close to the water, and is thus well within the reach of the Merpeople. Fleur's greatest fears soon came to light when her mother burst into the room with a panicked expression on her face.

"Fleur! We're under attack! Grab your wand and follow me!".

They rushed out of the room, and Fleur saw what was going on outside through one of the windows they were passing. It was an army of Merpeople slithering up the beach carrying Tridents. Some of the Merpeople even carried bows.

Arrows were shot towards the house, but they overshot the house significantly. Apparently the Merpeople did not get much practice using their bows outside of the water. They are known to shoot extremely accurately underwater. Fleur knew this wouldn't last long as the Merpeople would get used to shooting in the open air quickly, they needed to get out.

An unholy shriek filled the air. The Merpeople know how debilitating their voices are outside the water, and are more than happy to use it as a tactic during times like these. Fleur ran with Mother all the way to the ground floor, and noticed at once that some of the windows were broken, but there was no sign of Daddy, Gabrielle, nor any Mermen.

Unable to hear each other speak over the noise the Merpeople were making, Mother carefully, but quickly led me to the back door of the house. This is an extremely tense moment because they were on a clock here. The Mermen are known to surround buildings near the water and wait until the inhabitants run out of food. They needed to get out before the Mermen achieve this surround, but at the same time, they needed to be extra careful because the broken windows and the slime on the floor gave every indication that a Mermen was waiting somewhere to ambush.

And walk into the ambush they did.

Mother immediately cast a shield charm that deflected all three tridents attacks, but the Mermen were persistent, and it quickly became clear that it took all of Mother's skills to hold them off. This was up to Fleur. Just like she had prepared many times before this, Fleur pulled out her wand, and cast a simple drying charm directly onto the eyes of one of the mermen.

The drying charm took a lot out of Fleur, but it was enough to turn the tide. The blinded Merman missed on his next attack (which Mother didn't block), and the trident impaled one of his friends. Mother quickly stunned the blinded Mermen, and then dispatched the last one with relative ease.

Fleur put her wand away knowing that she couldn't manage another drying charm anytime soon. Her magical core was not yet mature. There is after-all a reason that magical education starts at 11. Instead, she pulled out a small bow from her pocket, and a few darts. Mother sent an approving smile to Fleur, but they both know that they need to move, and they proceeded to run out the back door (that faces away from the beach).

There they saw Daddy defending Gabrielle from five mermen, and like Mother, he was evenly matched with them. Gabrielle, being too young to cast any magic, and too young to effectively wield any weapons, stood there cowering behind Daddy. Mother shot a spell at one of the mermen just as a large group of bow-wielding mermen rounded the corner of the house.

"Mother!", Fleur cried just as the mermen fired their bows. Mother cast a shield charm to protect them all, but it turned out to be unnecessary as the mermen were still unused to shooting bows in the open air. Most of the arrows overshot them. The rest hit the ground short of their position, and Fleur understood that they were learning fast.

Meanwhile, Fleur's cry distracted the five mermen Daddy was fighting. This caused one of them to fall to Mother's spell, and it gave Daddy the opening he needed to dispatch the other four with ease. They all ran into the forest. The Mermen, while being fast underwater, were slow to slither around on land, and were quickly left behind.

They ran for a while before eventually feeling the boundaries of the anti-disapparition wards, and then apparating away.

"Why couldn't we floo out of there?" cried Gabrielle. She asked this every time we escape the mermen.

"Because, the French Ministry of Magic, in their infinite wisdom, prohibited making floo connections to lands this close to mermen territory", replied Mother tiredly.

Fleur remembered another history lesson where the mermen took over a house with a floo connection, and figured out how to use it. They were able to do serious damage before the floo system was shut down when a state of emergency was declared. Being water-dwelling creatures, they surprisingly understood the fire of the floo, and weren't afraid to use it.

The scene faded, and so did the Goblet's view screen, and so did the sense of impending magical exhaustion that Fleur was feeling after casting the drying charm. Even though there was no pain suffered during the memory, Harry found himself with a headache, and judging by the way most people around him were holding their heads, he wasn't the only one.

There was no pain this time, but the shocked silence was present anyway as everybody digested the news of this war that Binns never taught them. Harry wondered how such a large scale war lasting for so long managed to stay secret from the Wizarding World. Apparently wizards could take advice from the Veela when it comes to the art of secrecy. Then he sniggered at the irony. How many knew about the Basilisk? Or the time turner adventure?

"What's so funny Harry?", asked Hermione.

"I was thinking how they managed to keep that war secret from the rest of us, and then remembered all the secrets we have"

"The war isn't secret Harry, there is a reference to it in Hogwarts a History. Did you know that there is a Merpeople village at the bottom of the Black Lake? Apart from the prejudice, it's the reason that no Veela are given an acceptance letter to Hogwarts. It's too dangerous"

"Oh", said Harry, feeling foolish, and turned his attention to the nearby Beauxbatons students, who were discussing the battle they all witnessed. That conversation, however, stopped abruptly as Madam Maxime's booming voice caused Harry's headache to worsen momentarily, and pulled everybody's attention to the argument that has been escalating at the head table.

"... to change it!"

"It's far too late for that Madam, the co ..." started Bagman, but he was interrupted by Karkaroff

"We came to an agreement Madame, you know as well as I that the magical contract..."

Dumbledore suddenly interrupted with a firm voice when he noticed that the Hall quieted down due to their loud voices, "I believe we should take this up to my office, we are attracting attention"

Karkaroff and Maxime quieted down, and followed Dumbledore out of the room without another word. Professor McGonagall dismissed them all to their dormitories shortly after, and Harry was glad to retire as his headache made it hard to concentrate. Everybody went to bed without speaking much.

 **=== Authors Notes ===**

Thanks everybody for the support!

 **Note:** _I'm going to go dark for a few days as we are going away for New Years, so there is plenty of time for the poll below!_

I've still yet to decide which incident will be shown for Harry, but I do have a few ideas in my mind. In any case, I need to tell Cedric's story next so there is plenty of time.

Though coming up with stuff for the other champions is harder than it is for Harry (As this entire concept was invented with Harry's adventures in mind), but I feel it's necessary to establish the capabilities of this Goblet's view screen. Not to mention, I don't want to make it look like the Goblet declares Harry to be special or something. (The Goblet is an impartial judge after-all)

I think Cedric's will be the most difficult of them all, but I have a few ideas. Wish me luck :)

 **=== Poll ===**

 _In the mean time, perhaps we can have a vote for which incident people are most interested in seeing Hogwart's reactions to. I have an idea for pretty much most of these._

a) Dursley Abuse

b) Quirrelmort Confrontation

c) Chamber of Secrets Confrontation

d) Shrieking Shack Confrontation

e) Time Turner Adventure

f) Dream from the summer before Harry's fourth year, and his reactions upon waking up.

You are free to name others, or to even vote for several (or even all of them). I might not necessary agree with which to go, but I will look at the results anyway before making any decisions. I'm also not restricting myself to using one of them.

Your vote counts for extra if you accurately guess the reason for the headache AND what the head table argument was about.

Also, before I forget, I'm open to suggestions for Cedric as well. You'll be named in the next Chapter if I borrow elements from your idea.


	3. Ch 03: Hiding from Omniscience

**The Goblet 's Surprise**

Summary

As part of the Triwizard Tournament, the Goblet of Fire may re-ignite after choosing the champions. This is a rare part of the choosing ceremony during which the goblet justifies its choices by showing something about each champion that influenced its decision.

Chapter 3: Hiding from Omniscience

The next morning, the school was buzzing about the battle with the mermen they witnessed. The big question on everybody's mind was, What are the two sides trying to gain? Neither side can possibly gain any ground due to the limitations imposed by the water itself. Since nobody was brave enough to go into the Merpeople's domain and ask them, that only left them with the Veela perspective.

Unfortunately, Fleur turned out to be just as inaccessible as the Merpeople as nobody has seen her outside of the Beauxbatons carriage since the Goblet showed her memories last night, but the French contingent was able to provide some context as the war is no secret. The Veela claim that the Merpeople are the aggressors in this war, and the Veela's role has been pure self defense for centuries.

Many have tried to ask the Merpeople about the war, but such questions are only met with violence. Since this answer only throws the ball into the court of the Merpeople, people were losing interest in the matter by lunchtime, and when lunch finally arrived, another development entirely distracted them from all thoughts of the war.

Last night, everybody wanted to go to bed because of the headaches, and this morning, everyone was too sleepy to notice, but at Lunch, nothing stopped Hogwarts students from noticing that they could understand the French students perfectly when most had not studied French.

They quickly discovered that this new ability to understand French was limited to just that, understanding it. The Goblet did not provide the knowledge or experience in speaking it. Harry thought it might be due to all the listening they were doing when the history of the Merpeople war was told to them last night. There wasn't much talking on Fleur's part during these memories. The French students weren't pleased with this development as it robbed them of the ability to speak without being understood by the English-men around them. Not to mention how the English-men all got the ability for free, while they had to study hard to achieve the same.

This made Harry wonder if he "learned" anything from watching Krum's memory, and after searching his memory a bit, he noticed that some of the Quidditch moves he'd been itching to do lately, he had experienced in Krum's memories. Could it be? This prompted Harry to go flying for the rest of the evening, and just as he had suspected, Harry was able to do all the moves that Krum pulled off during the world cup with relative ease.

Before Harry knew it, it was dinner again, and it was time for Cedric's memories. This also meant that Harry would have one more day of peace. Harry noticed that there were more people in the hall today than before. He recognized the Minister and Lucius, but there were also a number of people he did not recognize, including a woman with a monocle.

"Settle down!", said Dumbledore calmly through his sonorus charm, "I'm sure you have all noticed by now, our little show here has attracted some attention". He then proceeded to introduce all the new people starting with Fudge, and the woman with the Monocle turned out to be Madam Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

"As the Goblet of Fire has sprung this show on us quite suddenly, they weren't able to free time from their busy schedules until today". Harry noticed Madam Bones shoot a scathing look at the Minister at these words, and Harry noticed Fudge look at him, and then at the Goblet with a nervous expression. However, he seemed to sigh in relief when he noticed the Goblet attack Cedric instead of Harry.

Cedric didn't try to stop the memory-stealing fire, and soon enough, they were looking at a timeline. Unlike Fleur, there were only two pins. One landed somewhere in the middle of the year during what Harry called "The Chamber of Secrets year", and the other one in the middle of the "Dementor year".

The Goblet then chose the chamber pin, and they were looking through Cedric's eyes again at an all too familiar writing on the wall, "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened, enemies of the heir beware". It was the scene of Mrs. Norris's petrification. Cedric was craning his neck trying to see what was going on in front of the crowd, but he didn't have much time to think about the sign he saw when Dumbledore dismissed them all, and it was up to him as Prefect to lead his fellow Hufflepuffs to their dorms.

The scene dissolved and then reformed as his friend was reading an excerpt from _Hogwarts a History_ , "The fabled Chamber of Secrets is said to be the home of a terrible monster that only Slytherin's heir can control. Slytherin build the chamber and sealed it shortly before leaving the castle. It is said that when Slytherin's heir returns, he will be able to control the monster within to purge the school of all students who's blood cannot be traced to a pure-blood family. The castle has been searched many times, but no evidence has ever been found."

Anthony paused in this reading and whined, "Why does this have to happen during OWL year?"

"Tell me about it", replied Cedric, "Imagine getting petrified on top of it all"

Anthony shuddered and continued to read, "The last time the chamber was opened, the year was marked with the petrification of a number of students, who were then revived at the end of the year after the culprit was caught and arrested"

"They got someone?", asked Cedric startled.

"Apparently", replied Anthony, who was quickly re-reading the text, "Before you ask, it doesn't say who was arrested, but there is more."

"Well, finish it up", said Cedric.

"When the petrified students were revived, they had no memory of how they were petrified to begin with. Mind healers examined them, and concluded that memory charms were not involved. Whatever petrified them, it managed to do it without the victims ever seeing the attacker"

"Ok, so if you get petrified ...", began Cedric

"You will wake up to find that the year is over, and you would have to repeat OWL year". Finished Anthony.

At Cedric's questioning look, Anthony elaborated, "The only antidote to the petrification requires Mandrakes, but those won't be mature enough until the end of the year"

"Can't they get Mandrakes from somewhere else?", asked Cedric.

"No, they are illegal to cultivate in many countries because of their cry, so the cost is prohibitive for Hogwart's budget."

"Then we need to avoid getting petrified, how do we do that?", asked Cedric.

After some thinking, Anthony asked, "What could cause a petrification?"

"That's the thing, even the teachers are stumped by what could be doing it. Must be a really dark beast in that chamber. The spells necessary to do what happened to Mrs Norris involve lengthy incantations and considerable dark magic. There is no way for a wizard to do it without the victim knowing about it".

"If _care of magical creatures_ has taught me anything", continued Cedric, "It's that the stuff you can use to defend against dark wizards is worthless against dark creatures. Remember the lesson on dementors?. Our best best is to avoid a confrontation"

"What if we use a magical signature detection charm?", suggested Anthony.

"How would that help?", asked Cedric.

"Think about it, the kind of power signature this creature must have is enormous. We might even be able to find the location of the chamber this way. At worst, we can use it as an early warning system so that we know to hide or run."

"Can we be sure that this creature is powerful enough to stand out on a magical signature detection charm?"

"We can't, but I would feel better if we did something", replied Anthony.

"Alright" replied Cedric, and the scene dissolved.

The next few memories depicted quite a number of memories that showed Cedric's dedication of learning this really difficult NEWT-level charm, going as far as neglecting his studies for his impending OWL exams. At long last, he finally managed it, and was able to _feel_ the magical signatures all over the Hufflepuff dungeons. Cedric then discovered that it was impossible to keep up the charm all the time as it required some degree of concentration. So Cedric got into the habit of casting it frequently when traveling, especially when traveling alone.

For many weeks, he didn't find anything unusual with the charm, and other than the peace of mind that Cedric got from it, it almost seemed like a waste of the many hours he spent mastering the charm. However, Cedric did not stop casting it when traveling in the hallways, and his perseverance paid off shortly before the Yule holidays.

He was walking to the library to do some more research during a free period when he cast the charm out of habit and froze. He _felt_ an absolutely _massive_ magical signature in the hallway around the next corner, and it was unmistakably headed his way! He was about to run in the opposite direction towards Professor Flitwick's office to hopefully set off an alarm, but he then noticed three first year Hufflepuffs ahead of him.

"Wait!", he shouted, and the three Hufflepuffs turned around startled. The massive magical signature was seconds away from reaching the corner, so ..

"Quick! Into this broom cupboard!". Cedric didn't know what caused them to obey without question, but he was grateful for it because no sooner had he closed the door, the magical signature turned the corner, and then stopped right in front of their door. Cedric didn't need the charm to know it was out there because they could hear the sound of something dragging on the floor right outside their door. After a while, whatever it was, decided to move on, and they all breathed a sigh of relief, but didn't dare leave the broom cupboard. Cedric's cast the charm again, which told him that it was in the next corridor.

Cedric and Anthony had discussed what they would do many times if something like this had ever happened. Given that this creature has been known to petrify without the victim even seeing it, they decided it was suicide to try and follow it, but the charm they found had a very big range. They hoped to be able to tell where the creature went using the charm's accuracy, and hopefully discover the entrance to the chamber.

To Cedric's dismay, the magical signature of the creature was very oppressive, and interfered with the charm's ability to track its exact position. It was one thing to be able to tell that it's right around the corner, but it became evident that they were not going to be able to track the exact spot where the magical signature vanishes.

After a while, they heard Peeves distant voice. They had to listen hard to hear him at first, "Why, it's potty wee Potter! What's Potter up to? Why's Potter lurking ...". Peeves trailed off and after a short pause, they heard him shout. "ATTACK! ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! ATTAAAACK!". Total pandemonium followed this as all the students from the nearby classes flooded out, Cedric felt it was safe to leave now. It would turn out that Justin Finch-Fletchley and Nearly Headless Nick got petrified in the next corridor. Cedric was really glad for the time he spent mastering the charm. It finally paid off. Cedric would never again encounter the magical signature that year. He would also never find out what the monster was as Dumbledore's message that the "Chamber situation was resolved" was frustratingly uninformative.

The Goblet of Fire's view screen vanished, and Harry sat there staring at Hermione in shock. Harry could tell that she also realized that there was no water on the floor, none of the Hufflepuffs had a mirror or a camera, and they could not hope to have a ghost just happen to pass by.

Harry wondered why he had never heard about this incident in his second year. Wouldn't the knowledge that there is a way to detect the beast moving through Hogwarts be helpful in solving the mystery, or even preventing attacks the way Cedric did? Apparently Harry was not the only one with this question, and it quickly filtered around that Dumbledore had suppressed this knowledge from the students, but alerted all the teachers. He didn't want the Heir of Slytherin to be tipped off about this detection method.

The teachers got into the habit of using the charm just like Cedric, but nothing came from it until after Hermione's petrification. Apparently, Professor Flitwick was able to hide more students in time, but like Cedric, he didn't try to follow the beast lest he be petrified by unknown means. Nobody got attacked that time, and they kept it quiet to keep the Heir of Slytherin ignorant.

It also seemed that Hermione and Penelope drew the short straw when they got petrified that year because most of the teachers just happened to be at the Quidditch pitch getting ready to watch the match that would end up being canceled due to their petrification. What's more, If Professor McGonagall didn't cast the charm as she was making her way down to the pitch, Hermione and Penelope would not have been discovered until after the match.

While all this information was circulating around the Great Hall, a commotion was building up at the head table. Apparently Dumbledore forgot to inform a few important people about Cedric's discovery.

"Lets go Harry", said Hermione, and she led him out of the Great Hall, and back to Gryffindor Tower. This turned out to be a good thing as Harry found out next morning. Harry had hoped this would be his last peaceful day with Cedric grabbing the spotlight with his heroic rescue of his fellow classmates, but he should have remembered that his luck simply doesn't work that way. As the school was discussing the little they knew about the Chamber of Secrets in the aftermath of Cedric's memory, somebody remembered and he and Ron earned 200 points a piece for Gryffindor that year. Not long after, the whole school knew that Harry had something to do with the "resolution" of the Chamber of Secrets. Ron's name somehow got lost while the information was spreading throughout the school.

Just like on the year of the chamber itself, many rumors circulated about what had happened, and Harry's avoidance of the public did nothing to discourage the rumors. Harry still suspected that his encounter in the chamber will be shown tonight anyway, and he didn't feel like reliving it more times than he had to. In any case, the whole school will find out soon just how unimaginative the rumors really are.

With so many people wanting Harry's story on how the Chamber was resolved, most of the students quickly noticed that all of Cedric's work in learning the magical signature detection charm has bled through into everybody's spell repertoire. Since every witch and wizard has a unique magical signature, it became the perfect spell to use to find Harry Potter. Unlike learning French, Cedric cast it frequently enough that all the viewers of his memory were now experts at the spell. Unlike Cedric's doomed attempt at tracking the monster, the charm has no problem in tracking wizards.

This resulted in a very strange game of cat and mouse. Due to the charm, everyone trying to get Harry's story knew at all times exactly where he was, but catching up with him turned out to be an impossible task. With the help of the twins and the Marauders Map, they were able to avoid the people trying to find Harry with relative ease by using the secret passageways, some of which were password protected.

Eventually, Harry, Hermione, Ginny and the twins settled down in a password protected secret passageway that takes you from the first floor to the fifth floor … by going down. While the Marauders Map was somehow able to show this and still make sense, this lapse in logic was more than enough to cause havoc with the magical signature detection charm as the map showed a large quantity of dots clustered in the dungeons.

To make matters more interesting, the dots were all clustered near the entrance to Snape's personal quarters because the magic of the secret passage caused the magical signature detection charm to place Harry and his friends somewhere within Snape's quarters.

"This is wicked, look at them all … ", said George

"... gathered at the entrance of ...", said Fred

"... Snape's quarters." finished George

"Snape must be furious, I wonder what they are saying", asked Harry. Unfortunately, while the gathering displayed on the map clearly indicates that some sort of drama must be happening, the map doesn't show any dialog. But it's more than clear that everybody is trying to enter Snape's quarters, but Snape himself is holding them back.

"Look, McGonagall and Bones just arrived", said Ginny, and Indeed both of their dots were rapidly approaching the cluster of dots flanked by Dumbledore. The trio of dots reached the cluster, and after a small delay, the cluster spread out, which most of the dots headed for the Great Hall. The three dots proceeded to enter Snape's quarters, and after a brief pause, the four of them spread out and starting moving around all over Snape's quarters.

"No way ...", breathed George.

" … are they actually ...", continued Fred

" … searching for us … ",

" … in Snape's quarters!?" finished Fred

They all burst out laughing.

"Harry, if Madam Bones is there, that means our absence has attracted the attention of the magical law enforcement. I think we should go", said Hermione looking anxious,

"Yes we should", agreed Ginny but they all saw that she had a wicked smile.

"Do I want to know?", asked Hermione.

"We should walk into the Great Hall and act totally normal, like we aren't aware that they've been searching for hours", said Ginny.

The twins both brightened at this suggestion, then Fred asked, "What do we say if they ask why the magical signature detector put them in Snape's office?"

"We improvise Fred", replied George.

They left the secret passage, and made their way to the Great Hall without incident. Apparently, nobody was casting the magical signature detection charm anymore because nobody intercepted them on the long walk from the secret passage to the Great Hall.

There was subdued chatter in the Great Hall, but their arrival caused complete silence. Harry, Ginny, Fred, and George continued to walk to their table, and sat down like nothing was out of the ordinary. Harry looked around the room, and after taking note of all the confused, and in some cases, angry looks, he turned to Neville and asked, "What's going on?".

Dean and Seamus were about to ask a question themselves, but Harry's question derailed them, and they closed their mouths. Neville responded with a small stutter, "They've been looking for you for hours, were you really in Snape's quarters?"

Adopting a perplexed and disgusted expression, Harry responded, "Are you nuts? Why would I willingly go to Snape's quarters?"

"But the charm said you were there", replied Neville hesitantly.

"What charm?", asked Harry, but he was beginning to have difficulty keeping a straight face. Neville didn't get a chance to respond because at that moment, there was a shout from the entrance,

"HARRY POTTER! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN"

It was Professors McGonagall, Snape, Dumbledore and Madam Bones standing in the doorway. McGonagall and Snape both looked livid, Dumbledore looked amused, and Madam Bones had an expression on her face that clearly said "Explain!".

This was enough to push back Harry's desire to burst out laughing. However, Madam Bones came to the rescue.

"Professors, Mr. Potter is here now, The Goblet is going to start the show any moment now, and I would like some answers before we get distracted by whatever it is the Goblet decides to show".

"Now Amelia, what will not be necessary ...", started Dumbledore, but he was interrupted by Madam Bones.

"Albus! Do not tell me that everything was under control! Even if it's in the past, it is my duty as Head of the DMLE to know these things!".

Harry decided to halt the argument since it was a pointless one anyway.

"Madam Bones, I think you should hold your questions because I'm sure the Goblet is going to show us the Chamber"

Madam Bones raised her eyebrows at Harry, but Dumbledore paled.

Hermione answered for Harry, "For each champion, the Goblet chooses an event of great personal danger that the champion conquered. Harry believes th...", but Hermione was interrupted by the Great Hall's fireplace flaring up green, and out walked the Minister and Lucius Malfoy. Both looked disheveled.

"Ah, Dumbledore", said Fudge wearily, "Sorry for our tardiness, but after the Daily Prophet published the details of Cedric's memories this morning, we've been fighting off howlers all day. We've been busy re-assuring the public that there was nothing to worry about. I sincerely hope this entire Chamber of Secrets fiasco is now behind us."

As though the Goblet had been waiting for Fudge to say that, it suddenly lit up, and the fires arced toward Harry like they did with the other champions. Harry's timeline materialized. As he had expected, there was a pin at the end of each of his last three years, but there were also quite a few pins in his pre-Hogwarts days. Harry was so focused on trying to figure out what events are behind each of those pre-Hogwarts pins, that he missed which one the Goblet chose, and the timeline dissolved.

Harry, fully expecting to find himself face-to-face with the basilisk, was surprised to be speaking with Professor Lupin. Thinking back on the things that the Goblet has shown for the other champions, he supposed that the Goblet is simply providing the context behind the big conflict, but he couldn't imagine what kind of context could there be _after_ his confrontation with the beast. _Perhaps this one is about the dementors? How would Fudge react if he learns about the time turner?_

Harry was walking with Professor Lupin after he lost his Nimbus thanks to the dementors during the last Quidditch match.

"Professor, Why do the dementors affect me so?", asked Harry, "I mean, more than everybody else".

"Listen", started Lupin, "dementors are among the foulest creatures to walk this earth. They feed on every good feeling, every happy memory until a person is left with nothing but his worst experiences".

Lupin paused, and then with a firm voice said, "You are not weak Harry"

 _"The dementors affect you more than others because there are true horrors in your past"_

The scene began to dissolve before Lupin had even finished, and his next words had an ominous echoing quality as a result.

 _"horrors your classmates can scarcely imagine"._

 **=== Authors Notes ===**

Those reviews are brilliant! Keep them coming!

 **Poll Results**

Firstly, I want to give you a sense of the poll results:

The single event that everybody seems to be looking forward to is the chamber, but I also saw a lot of interest in seeing several of the adventures shown to Hogwarts without limiting it to the chamber.

 **Questions**

Secondly, the questions I gave.

What was the head table argument about? Most of you figured out what half of the argument was about. Fleur's disadvantage was certainly a concern that Madam Maxime has, but Dumbledore interrupted the conversation before they could get to the one worrying the tournament organizers: Fleur's memory includes the sound of mermen above water … which means the Golden Egg's clue has been compromised for all four champions.

What's the cause of the headache? The headache was caused (as you all saw in this chapter) by the goblet partially downloading the French language into everybody's brains. Congrats **tanzar81** for figuring that out. For those interested, there was a subtle clue near the end of chapter 2 where Harry hears the Beauxbatons delegation speaking about the attack they saw moments before. I left it up to you to realize that they would never speak amongst themselves in English.

 **Note about Harry's adventures**

Third, I have a note about Harry's adventures

I want to do more than just one of them, but that decision presents a problem. Each major adventure Harry had would represent a pin on the timeline, and given that I already established that Fleur's timeline has quite a few pins, and am yet to figure out (story-wise) why Krum did not have a timeline at all … it would be internally inconsistent for me to show multiple adventures for Harry, but ignore the other champions.

That doesn't mean there aren't solutions to the problem, but it does present a possible Poll question …. (see below)

 **Note about the magical signature detection charm and the diary**

For those of you who would ask why the charm didn't detect the diary, I would bring to your attention that we are dealing with Voldemort here, who clearly created this horcrux with the intention for it to be a weapon _within Hogwarts_. The diary would not have been able to serve that function if it didn't have the ability to conceal itself from the Hogwarts' famous wards. If Voldemort is capable of placing the DADA curse, shouldn't this be well within his league as well? A mere magical signature charm would probably be child's play compared to the wards that Voldemort would have had to figure out how to hide from.

 **=== Poll ===**

As the story progresses, are you interested seeing other adventures of ….

a) Krum?

b) Fleur? (This would mean further development of their war against the mermen)

c) Cedric? (This would include something from the dementor year)

You can pick a combination just like last poll


	4. Ch 04: Horrors of the Past

****The Goblet 's Surprise****

Summary

As part of the Triwizard Tournament, the Goblet of Fire may re-ignite after choosing the champions. This is a rare part of the choosing ceremony during which the goblet justifies its choices by showing something about each champion that influenced its decision.

Chapter 4: The Horrors of the Past

" _The dementors affect you more than others because there are true horrors in your past_ "

The scene began to dissolve before Lupin had even finished, and his next words had an ominous echoing quality as a result.

" _Horrors your classmates can scarcely imagine_ ".

The scene reformed replacing Lupin's kind face with that of Uncle Vernon's purple one.

"And you?", he inquired of Harry.

"I'll be in my bedroom", said Harry, "Making no noise, and pretending that I don't exist".

As Harry said this, his subconscious mind was aware that this is his 12th birthday, and this allowed all of Hogwarts to be aware of this fact as well. They also became aware that Harry expected nothing less from his relatives. Harry noticed a few people in tears, and quite a few people (including Hermione) wanted to interrupt, but it seemed that the Goblet would not permit any interruptions in the viewing. It continued relentlessly forward. He did notice that Madam Bones write something down on a sheet of parchment.

Uncle Vernon then continued, "With any luck, this could very well be the biggest deal of my career, and you _will not_ mess it up!". Uncle Vernon's expression brought to Harry's mind previous instances of what happens if Harry dares to "mess it up", and these images caused some gasps in the audience. Like before, the Goblet continued forward. Harry hoped that the severity of what was coming will cause everyone to forget about the Dursleys.

The scene suddenly shifted, and Harry was walking into his room with the goal of collapsing onto his bed, only to find Dobby the house elf already on it. Dobby's presence didn't cause much fuss as most students are used to the presence of a house elf, but reactions started when Dobby began making his outlandish statements. Harry noticed that Madam Bones began writing furiously when Dobby said, " _Dobby heard tell, that Harry Potter met the Dark Lord for a second time, just weeks ago ... that Harry Potter escaped yet again_ "

Harry's affirmation of Dobby's statement was reinforced by the image of a terrible face under a purple turban, and the brief flashes of the nightmares that have been plaguing him since that particular adventure. Several of the audience turned to Harry with startled faces. Though it wasn't voiced, the implication that Harry had faced Voldemort as a first year, and lived, was not lost on anyone.

Though people wanted to interrupt again, The Goblet continued onward onto Dobby's next statement, which was so blasphemous that it drove all thoughts of Voldemort from everybody's minds, " _Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts_ ". The silence that followed this was complete, in both the Great Hall and the memory. They could all hear the clink of eating utensils in the memory of Uncle Vernon's dinner party downstairs, and Harry took a moment to appreciate the fact that those were the only eating utensils in use .. despite the hundreds available in the present day Great Hall. There are normally people eating during the Goblet's visuals, but this was one of the few times (save for Krum's meeting with the bludger) where nobody was eating...except the Dursleys.

As Harry's conversation with Dobby continued, it seemed to dawn on everybody that this was all context for something big. This was reinforced when Dobby made statements like, " _If Harry Potter goes back to Hogwarts, he will be in mortal danger_ " and this, " _Dobby has known it for months, sir_ ". The most interesting thing was Madam Bones' contemplative face as she looked at Lucius Malfoy, and Malfoy himself, who was looking white.

The scene dissolved, and reformed. Harry found himself in Lockhart's office at Hogwarts, and as his subconscious knowledge of his surroundings filtered in with the new scene, he understood that this was his detention for flying to Hogwarts in the car.

"Harry, Harry, Harry", began Lockhart's annoying voice, "Can you possibly imagine a better way to serve detention than by helping me answer my fan mail?". Harry, who distinctly remembered going to Professor McGonagall and requesting to switch detentions with Ron, internally laughed as he lied.

"Not really.". Harry saw a few questioning looks in the Great Hall.

"Fame is a fickle friend Harry", continued Lockhart. "Celebrity is and celebrity does, remember that".

Harry returned his focus to his work without a word, but shortly after he was distracted by chilling voice that seemed to come from the walls themselves.

" _Come ... come to me ... Let me rip you ... Let me tear you ... Let me kill you ..._ "

The scene shifted a few minutes ahead to when Harry leaves detention, and the voice appears again,

" _... rip ... tear ... kill_ "

Harry's blood froze, but he soon noticed that the voice was getting fainter, and he took off after it. Meanwhile in the Great Hall, everybody was looking at each-other with frightened eyes, and some of the first years have started crying, but the Goblet would not allow anybody to be comforted as it proceeded forward relentlessly. Memory-Harry soon ran into Ron and Hermione, and after exchanging a few words (to which the chilling voice added a few of its own that only Harry could hear) they soon found themselves at a scene that all of Hogwarts had already seen just the day before. The site of Mrs Norris's pertification.

The Goblet apparently decided that everybody knew enough about petrification and the mandrakes, and the scene reformed into a History lesson with Professor Binns. He was talking about the Chamber of Secrets at Hermione's insistence, and everything he said was already visited the day before in Cedric's memories. However, one of his final statements only added to the ominousness of the story,

"The school has been searched for evidence of such a chamber, many times, by the most learned witches and wizards. It does not exist!". This statement combined with the recent experiences with the cold voice and seeing Mrs Norris petrified served to impress on everyone in the Great Hall the seriousness of the situation, but the Goblet wasn't even done with the context.

The scene dissolved and reformed into an experience that Hogwarts was familiar with from a few days ago ... a quiddich match. Considering what happened during Krum's match, it was no surprise for quite a few groans to be heard in the Great Hall when it became clear that a rogue bludger would not leave Harry alone, and before long, the bludger hit its mark. Considering the extreme pain that all of Hogwarts is now feeling with the broken arm, the catch of the snitch that follows this caused Krum and a few others to contemplate Harry with a great deal more respect.

The scene dissolved and reformed in the Hospital Wing that night. The pain of the broken arm was replaced with the excruciating pins-and-needles pain of skele-gro that most students at Hogwarts have never felt until now. Harry could see many students fighting back tears, something that Krum's injury did not invoke (possibly because of how briefly everyone had to feel it before Krum's memory ended). The fact that Harry had another meeting with Dobby to keep the pain going did not help.

"Why do we have to feel Potter's pain", whined Malfoy loudly, "It's not like it has anything to do with the chamber."

That notion would be dispelled quickly when Dobby confesses that he was the one who bewitched the bludger to tail Harry, for the express purpose of scaring Harry away from Hogwarts and away from the danger of the Chamber of Secrets. When Harry declared that he won't leave because "My best friend is muggle born!", he noted Hermione looking at him with teary eyes, but he couldn't be sure if that was his declaration, or if it was the hell that was his arm. The respect for Harry increased as he was able to continue a completely normal conversation with a house elf despite his pain, and still have his voice under control.

However, the thing to grab everybody's attention from this meeting with Dobby was the revelation that this was not the first time the Chamber was opened, and Harry would not be the only one frustrated with Dobby's inability to tell him more.

The scene dissolved, and so did the pain, causing a great deal of relieved sighs around the Great Hall. Harry found himself in a dueling stance against Malfoy at the dueling club, and the snake that Malfoy recently cast had just landed on the dueling podium after Lockhart launched it into the air. The snake went for Justin, and without thinking, Harry told it to,

"Leave him alone!"

The snake looked at Harry, and calmed down. All of Hogwarts felt the relief that Harry felt that day when it became clear that the snake will not do anything. The angry and scared looks that memory-Harry was receiving served to confuse everyone in the Great Hall until it slowly began to dawn on them that the Goblet had once again translated a language for them. The scene dissolved, and reformed with Harry walking from the Library some time later.

He was fuming about the unfairness of the Hufflepuff's accusations when he ran into Hagrid holding a dead rooster in his hands. Hagrid proceeded to inform him that this isn't the first one to be killed, and he was just on his way to Dumbledore to request permission to place a spell to prevent these killings. Harry continued and then nearly tripped over something, and felt his heart drop. It was the scene of Justin's and Nick's petrification. Harry spotted the spiders fleeing the scene, and then Peeves appeared. From there, the audience got to relive Peeves' shouts from another perspective, and the scene dissolved again and reformed with Harry paging through a blank book.

While paging through it, Harry looked at the cover to reveal "Tom Marvolo Riddle", and other than Ginny tensing, nobody in the Great Hall reacted to the name. Harry briefly wondered how Malfoy and company would react to Voldemort's own admission that he's a half-blood. The memory continued, and there was muttering and startled looks from the head table when the book started responding to Harry's questions about the Chamber of Secrets.

The muttering turned to screams as the book pulled Harry into a black-and-white memory, and Hogwarts became witness to a part of the castle's history that Professor Binns never went over. The news that a girl had died because of the Chamber of Secrets significantly increased the anxiety for everyone, but all thoughts of that were blown away when Riddle accused Hagrid of being the Heir. Even Malfoy scoffed at that accusation.

The scene dissolved again to reform right back on the Quiddich pitch. Everybody tensed. Considering what happened the last two times the Goblet decided to show a Quiddich match, it was the first time in history that all of Hogwarts was relieved to hear Professor McGonagall come in and say,

"This match has been cancelled."

That relief was short lived however as Hogwarts was soon privy to the storm that was Harry's emotions at the discovery that Hermione was petrified, and then this was followed by the paralyzing fear that he felt when Professor McGonagall announced in the common room that, " _It is likely that the school will be closed unless the culprit behind these attacks is caught_ ".

Harry had hoped that the seriousness of the Chamber would cause people to forget about the Dursleys, but his fear of returning to them full-time, without the comfort of knowing he will return to Hogwarts in September, brought everybody's attention right back to his home life. As if that fear wasn't enough to convey just how bad life with the Dursleys is, his increased determination to solve the Chamber, and prevent the loss of his true home, even if it comes at the cost of his own life, did more than enough to get the message across. He saw Ron and Hermione give him startled looks as he had never voiced this to them before.

Harry didn't like the looks Fudge and Malfoy were giving him as the scene shifted to Hagrid's hut, and Harry watched as Hagrid tried to defend himself from the Heir of Slytherin accusations coming from Minister Fudge. When Fudge claimed that "The Ministry has got to be seen doing something", Madam Bones scowled, and a few of the daily prophet reporters present in the Great Hall got predatory looks on their faces. Fudge's persistence of sending Hagrid to Azkaban despite clearly admitting that he doesn't think it's Hagrid is going to do him no favors when the Goblet is done. The last thing to happen before the memory of Hagrid's hut dissolved caused Ron to suddenly look anxious, but nobody noticed.

"If anybody was looking for some stuff, all you have to do would be to _follow the spiders_ ".

The scene reformed and quite a number of people screamed as they found themselves in a clearing positively surrounded by a massive swarm of the biggest spiders most people have never seen in their lives. The respect for Harry increased significantly as people felt his fear, but also saw how it didn't stop him from having a perfectly normal conversation with the biggest spider in the place.

Everyone shuddered at the reminder of the dead girl from the previous opening of the Chamber of Secrets, and shuddered even more at the pronouncement that these monsters don't even dare speak the name of the monster within the Chamber. Harry's internal dialogue of comparing this to a "monster Voldemort" did nothing to curb everybody's anxieties, and only served to build up the terror that the monster of the Chamber of Secrets inspired.

What happened next caused anxieties to climb through the roof.

"Go?", said Aragog slowly. "I think not..."

"My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid at my command, but I cannot deny them fresh meat, when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Good-bye, friend of Hagrid."

Hagrid was looking startled at this development, but the subsequent nail-biting escape that Harry and Ron achieved thanks to Mr. Weasley's car ended with a round of applause in the Great Hall. The fact that the entire spider adventure is _still_ in the realm of "context" for the story was not lost on anybody. The scene dissolved and when it reformed, Harry would tell that the context was finally almost over. They were in the Hospital Wing with petrified Hermione, and Harry had just discovered the piece of paper that Hermione held in her hand. All of Hogwarts read the paper:

 _Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size, and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it._

Since Hogwarts was reading this from Harry's own memories, all the connections that his mind made were privy to them too. The voice in the walls, his parseltongue, and the fact that this is a snake. This snake can live for many hundreds of years, making it the perfect candidate for a monster that lives in an ancient chamber. Spiders fleeing before a creature they fear to name. Roosters being killed throughout the year. The only question left was why nobody was dead.

As memory-Harry looked around the petrified students in the Hospital Wing, he remembered the muggle legend of the Medusa, and how it was safe to look at the Medusa through indirect means such as a mirror. All of the victims looked at it indirectly. Perhaps petrification is simply the watered-down version of "instant death" just as mere petrification gets watered down to nothing in the case of the Medusa? As memory-Harry was thinking this, he saw Cedric and some of the huffepuffs whiten with realization. Harry assumed they were remembering their own close call with the Basilisk now, and the fact that they would have seen it directly.

As Harry was conveying his theory about indirect petrification to Ron, his thought processes reminded him of the girl that died fifty years ago, and that Aragog had said she died in a bathroom. Harry happens to know of the ghost of a girl that resides in a bathroom. Could it be?

"Remember what Aragog said about that girl fifty years ago?", asked Harry, "She died in a bathroom."

Ron took the bait, which was confirmation enough for Harry that his idea is plausible, "Moaning Myrtle?"

They decided to go to the teachers with their discovery (which caused some of the teachers to look surprised, they don't remember being informed of this), and went to the staff room. The Goblet didn't have the audience suffer through the long wait, and shifted the scene immediately to the conversation the teachers had in the staff room, and the revelation of Ginny's kidnapping into the Chamber of Secrets. The stakes have begun to climb.

Hogwarts was privy to Harry's shock at this unexpected revelation, and the paralyzing fear he felt again when McGonagall started making plans to close the school early. By the time that Harry had gained control of his emotions again, the teachers were already leaving the staff room. They had missed their chance to make their discovery known. In his dursley-induced panic, Harry remembred that Professor McGonagall had already brushed them off last year, and that she had already delegated the responsibility of dealing with the Chamber to Lockhart, so it didn't occur to him that it was stupid to find himself in Lockharts office moments later.

The reveation that Lockhart is nothing but a fraud capable of memory charms did nothing to curb Harry's panic. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't risk wasting precious time going to any of the other teachers in case they brushed him off like Professor McGonagall, or worse decided that the rescue was far too dangerous, and only hastened the evacuation of Hogwarts while keeping a close eye on him. He would NOT allow himself to be taken to the Dursleys early with no prospect of ever returning to Hogwarts. He would die before it allowed that to happen.

Harry's last thought caused gasps to erupt all around the Great Hall, and he noticed that Professor McGonagall was looking extremely guilty at the head table, while the other teachers looked at Harry open-mouthed. Even Snape's expression was unreadable. Madam Bones was writing furiously on her parchment, and Harry had a feeling that the Dursleys would be getting a few visits from "their lot" in full view of the neighbors in the next few days.

His goals set, he and Ron brought Lockhart to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and proceeded to ask the very last question that the Goblet of Fire would consider context for the rest of the show.

"...To ask you, how you died", said Harry to Myrtle.

Myrtle's confirmation that the monster is indeed a Basilisk, and her description of just what it feels like to die at the "beam of its eye" impressed upon Harry the seriousness of what he was walking into like nothing else has so far. Everybody in the Great Hall was impressed with the way the sinks moved to reveal the long-sought entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. The seriousness of the situation prevented anybody from making comments about the fact that it was in a girls bathroom.

Harry jumped into the long slimy pipe, and the floor's composition of rat skulls at the bottom of the pipe only served to make the situation more ominous than it already did. They continued on until they reached the snake skin, and Harry's internal recounting of what he read earlier did nothing for everybody's nerves,

" _...This Snake, which may reach gigantic size, and live many hundreds of years ..._ "

"Bloody Hell", said Ron, "Whatever shed this, must be sixty feet long, or more."

Lockhart's sudden fainting spell caused Harry to tense, concerned for a moment that he was a victim of the Basilisk's gaze. Then he saw Ron looking in the same direction that Lockhart was with no ill effects, and he relaxed, only to tense again a moment later when Lockhart woke up suddenly and wrestled Ron's wand from him, and was pointing the wand at them before Harry could react. Everyone at Hogwarts was subsequently reminded of just what Lockhart is good at – Memory Charms.

" _The adventure ends here boys_ ", began Lockhart, " _But don't fret. The world will know our story. How you two tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body. So, you first Mr. Potter. Say goodbye to your memories._ ".

"Obliviate!", shouted Lockhart and the wand exploded. The cave-in followed soon after and then Harry (as well as Hogwarts watching through his eyes) found himself continuing on alone. He reached a circular door that had statues of snakes all over it, and the snakes's eyes looked strangely alive. He told them to open just like the main entrance, and the seriousness of the situation didn't stop the people in he Great Hall from appreciating just how cool this door is.

Harry walked into the Chamber proper, and everybody saw for the first time, the Chamber that has been nothing but legend for many hundreds of years. The long walkway with many snake-head statues along the sides that led to a big stone face at the far end of the chamber, and a pool in front of the face. There was water everywhere, such that every surface in the chamber was wet, and near the pool at the other end of the walkway, Harry saw a small figure with flaming red hair laying down on the wet floor.

"Ginny!", he exclaimed, and he began running toward her prone figure. As he neared her, he dropped his wand as he started saying,

"Wake up! Wake up!"

"She won't wake", said a voice. Harry whirled around, and he along with the rest of Hogwarts recognised the Tom Riddle they saw from the diary not long before.

"What do you mean she won't wake?", asked Harry, who had a nagging feeling that something was wrong. "She's not ...". Harry trailed off, unable to give voice to that horrible thought.

"She's still alive", replied Tom, "But only just"

"Are you a ghost?", asked Harry, who continued getting that nagging feeling at the back of his mind, but he had bigger problems at the moment.

"A memory, preserved in a diary for fifty years". Replied Tom. Harry heard some confused muttering in the Great Hall. Even the seventh years looked unsure how that could be possible. Harry touched Ginny's hand only to feel that her hand was really cold.

"She's cold as ice", he said. Then, remembering that there is supposed to be a Basilisk around here somewhere, that he needs to hurry, and that he would not be able to carry Ginny quickly enough, Harry continued, "Ginny, please don't be dead. Wake up! Wake up!"

Harry quickly turned to Tom, "You've got to help me Tom, there is a basilisk!", still in a panic about where said basilisk is.

"It won't come until it's called", said Tom. Harry looked up at Tom trying to calm down enough to think clearly when he noticed his wand in Tom's hand.

"Give me my wand Tom", he said while holding out his hand.

"You won't be needing it" said Tom ominously.

Harry, who was growing more and more anxious that their little chat would attract the Basilisk's attention any moment now, said in a louder, more frustrated voice,

"Listen, we've got to go, we've got to save her!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that. You see, as poor Ginny grows weaker, I grow stronger". Said Tom

Harry narrowed his eyes at Tom as the suspicion that has been forming at the back of his mind now reached the forefront.

"Yes Harry", said Tom, "It was Ginny Weasley who opened the Chamber of Secrets"

"No", said Harry, "She couldn't, she wouldn't"

"It was Ginny who set the basilisk on the mudbloods and filch's cat, Ginny who wrote the frightening messages on the walls"

"Why?", asked Harry, completely perplexed what could lead Ginny to do any of these things, but still convinced that Tom had something to do with it.

"Because I told her to", said Tom confirming Harry's suspicions, "You'll find I can be very perssuasive. Not that she knew what she was doing, she was, shall we say in a kind of trance?"

Tom continued, "Still the power of the diary began to scare her, she tried to dispose of it into the girls bathroom, and who should find it, but you? The very person I was most anxious to meet!"

Echoing everybody's question, Harry asked, "Why did you want to meet me?"

"I knew I had to talk to you, meet you if I could, so I decided to show you my capture of that brainless oaf Hagrid, to gain your trust."

"Hagrid is my friend!", shouted Harry, who was glad that Tom's gambit to 'gain his trust' had not worked, "and you framed him didn't you?"

"It was my word against Hagrid's", continued Tom, "Only Dumbledore seemed to think he was innocent"

Feeling no small amount of pride towards Dumbledore, Harry gloated "I bet Dumbledore saw right through you."

"He certainly kept an annoying close watch on me after that", conceeded Tom, clearly annoyed by that development, "I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the chamber again while I was still at school, so I decided to leave behind a diary. Preserving my 16 year-old self in its pages, so that one day, I would be able to lead another, to finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work!"

Harry, feeling like gloating some more, decided to show Tom another hole in his plans, "Well you haven't finished it this time, in a few hours, the mandrake draft will be ready, and everybody who was petrified with be alright again".

"Haven't I told you?", said Tom, "Killing mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore. For many months now, my new target, has been you!".

Harry, who hadn't expected to be named a target, was taken aback, and was further taken aback about why Tom would care about his escape from Voldemort when Tom voiced it.

"Since when do you care how I escaped? Voldemort was after your time."

"Voldemort, is my past, present, and future", said Tom with a smirk. He turned around and wrote his full name in the air with a fire spell, and then swished his wand to have the letters re-arrange themselves to say "I AM LORD VOLDEMORT"

Harry's mind jammed. It was one thing for a "monster voldemort" to be lurking around in the bowels of the castle, but he had not considered the possibility of the monster in question to be Voldemort's pet.

"You, you're the heir of slytherin". Stammered Harry, wondering what to make of this new development.

"Surely, you didn't think I was going to use my filty muggle father's name?". Questioned Tom.

Harry noticed a number of stunned looks around the Great Hall. He wasn't sure if they were still recovering of the revelation of Voldemort's presense, or the revelation of him being a half blood, or merely all the crazy revelations they've had since the vision began. Either way, he knew the hammer would fall when the vision was over. A sudden birds call distracted him from his musings, he had missed some of the conversation.

Fawkes the Phoenix was flying down the length the chamber, and Harry felt the surprise and hope that he felt that day, but most of all, he felt the comfort that the presense of an ally brings. He wondered if Fawkes's music had anything to do with those feelings.

"So this is what Dumbledore sends his great defender", said Tom contemptuously, "A songbird, and an old hat.". Tom turned his back on Harry, and approached the big face. Harry, confused what Tom was doing, watched as Tom held out his hand, and said

"Speak to me Slytherin, Greatest of the Hogwarts Four"

Harry heard the telltale hissing that indicates Tom spoke in the language of snakes, and then watched the mouth of the big statue slowing opening as something inside was making its way out. Suddenly Harry remembered an except, _all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death_. If he continues staring at the statue, that's exactly what will happen! Harry turned his back on the statue, and took off towards the front of the chamber in a blind panic. He didn't know what to do. Just when he was wondering how he could possibly climb the ladder to the snake door in time, he slipped and fell onto the floor.

By the time he managed to get his glasses back on his face, he felt that the great beast was right behind him, and no doubt about to strike. He instinctively covered his head while his conscious mind wondered what good that would do. The low hissing and the vibrations caused by the great beast moving told him that it's massive.

His musings were interrupted by Fawkes and his birdsong. The bird flew down, and dissappeared directly over Harry's head. Harry nearly turned his head around to follow the bird's progress, but stopped himself just in time, he chose to examine the shadow on the ceiling of the bird's fight with the beast. It looked like the bird was fighting with the head of the beast, but Harry couldn't tell what Fawkes was trying to do.

"No! Your bird may have blinded the basilisk, but it can still hear you!", shouted Tom from the other end of the Chamber.

With the threat of the Basilisk's gaze apparently removed, Harry turned around and looked upon the beast for the first time. Several people in the Great Hall screamed at the sight. The beast was bigger than Harry had first thought. The beast's new blind state gave Harry an idea, _perhaps I can lose it in the pipes_. Harry knew he had no hope of fighting this creature, especially not without his wand. He only wanted to get Ginny out of the Chamber. Harry hoped that the creature would have a lot of difficulty navigating Hogwart's pipe network if it can't see where it's going.

Harry took a few steps, getting ready to run into the pipe entrance he can see to his right, and the Basilisk's head locked onto his position. If the Basilisk still had eye-sight, it would be looking directly at him! Harry took off, and from his peripheral vision, he saw the basilisk's head take a dive, and he heard it bite thin air behind him.

Harry turned into a another pipe, and heard a loud crash behind him as the Basilisk attempted another blind strike. He kept running, and he saw the Basilisk following. He turned another corner, and found the path blocked by bars. He quickly turned around, hoping to get out of this dead-end before the Basilisk arrived, but found his path blocked by the Basilisk, which was once again looking directly at him!

The Basilisk got closer, and opened its mouth with a deep hiss. Harry was convinced that it's impeccable hearing could hear the frantic beating of his heart, but for some reason the Basilisk contented itself with hissing at him. Why wasn't it moving forward? It's not like it can see him, or the bars. Harry's hand was frantically searching on the pipe floor for anything that could help him, and found a rock. He threw it into the gap between the Basilisk's head and the pipe wall.

Harry's prayers were answered. The loud clattering of the rock in the pipe beyond caused the Basilisk to retreat, and move into that pipe instead. As Harry waited for the length of the beast to pass on, he came to a realization that suddenly made his plan of losing the Basilisk in the pipes seem very foolish. The Basilisk has been in this chamber for a thousand years at least. This chamber is it's home. It didn't move into that barred pipe precisely because it was barred. It doesn't need its eyes to navigate its own home!

As the Basilisk dissapeared into a dark pipe, Harry noticed another pipe that led back into the main chamber, and he made his way to it. As he stepped out of the pipe, he briefly appreciated that despite his earlier cynical thoughts about his plan, he somehow managed to return to the main chamber without the Basilisk. He ran over to Ginny.

"Yes Potter, the process is nearly complete", bragged Riddle, "In a few minutes Ginny Weasley will be dead, and I will cease to be a memory. Lord Voldemort will return. Very. Much. Alive".

Harry's mind was working a mile a minute. He would never be able to get Ginny out of here without Riddle interfering, so should he attack Riddle? Before he could make up his mind, there was a great splash behind him. Harry turned only to find that the Basilisk had returned, and its great body was slithering out of the massive pool. Apparently that pipe it went to dives underwater at some point, and comes out here. Harry had a brief image of being trapped in a pipe that was diving into water with the maw of the Basilisk approaching from the other side. So much for the plan to lose it in the pipes.

With the realization that running would be impossible, Harry decided that fighting is the only course of action left, and just as he was wondering if he should wrestle his wand away from Riddle, and what spells he would cast even if he succeeded, he heard a strange metallic sound on the floor near Ginny.

He looked, and saw the hilt of a ruby-encrusted sword inside the Sorting Hat that Fawkes brought earlier. Deciding that this is a far more useful tool to him at the moment than his wand, he pulled out the sword, and pointed it in the direction of the Basilisk, which was still shaking its head off all the water.

He knew it would be stupid to fight the Basilisk this close to Ginny's motionless form, and as he wondered where to run, he remembered some video games he saw Dudley play where the weakness of the massive boss is its head. Harry wasn't sure how he could use that to his advantage yet, but it was at least something to go on, and it gave him a problem to work on, _how to attack its head?_ Harry noticed that the Basilisk kept its head elevated out of reach unless it was striking at him.

Could he perhaps go into the pipes again, and force it to lower it's head just to follow him in? The image of getting trapped between that head and a pool of water, or those bars again caused Harry to shudder as he scrapped that thought. The Basilisk isn't likely to fall for that trick again, and if he managed to somehow kill the Basilisk in such a position, how would he get out?

As Harry looked around for inspiration, his eyes fell on the big face-statue, which has a deep-looking pool in front of it. Perhaps instead of forcing the beasts head to his level, he can instead climb up? Harry ran to one of the statue's stone hairs, which he noticed can be climbed, and began to make his way upward.

All too soon, he could hear the familiar deep hissing behind him, and knew that the Basilisk caught up. Harry turned around, positioned himself securely against the stone, and started swinging the sword in the Basilisk's face. He was encouraged when the beast slowed down its approach, but that encouragement quickly turned to alarm when the head dived right at him!

Harry barely dodged out of the way as the beast's head crashed into the stone exactly where his torso was a second ago. The stone underneath his fingers and feet shuddered at the impact nearly causing Harry to fall into the water below. As the Basilisk's head moved away from the impact site, Harry saw a large chunk of rock fall away and gulped. He continued his way up, and the Basilisk's head crashed into the stone face again, causing more shuddering and splintering rock.

Just as Harry was near the top of the head, the Basilisk attacked again, but this time, the resulting shuddering was significantly weaker. Harry made his way to the top, and realized why. Despite the beast's great size, it needed the entire length of its body positioned around the edge of the pool in order to keep its head elevated this high! To make matters worse (for the basilisk), it's grip on the edge of the deep pool seemed precarious enough that the Basilisk could not make sudden fast attacks at this height.

Harry swung his sword at its head several more times, but it didn't look like it was doing much good, and the situation got worse when the Basilisk's next attack pushed him backward causing Harry to lose his sword. Harry quickly recovered from the fall, and had a moment of panic as he spotted the sword sliding down the head of the statue. He quickly made his way to the sword, and barely grabbed it by the hilt in time. Harry looked up, and saw his chance.

The Basilisk's head was fast approaching with its jaw wide open, Harry turned the sword upright at the same time he thrust upward with all his strength, and felt a resistance as the sword pierced through the roof of the beasts's mouth. As the beast started shrieking in pain, Harry felt an excruciating pain erupt on the arm holding the sword. With his last remaining strength on the affected arm, he pulled out the sword, and watched as the Basilisk's body started bending in weird ways as its head shrieked in pain and descended towards the floor. At some point, the Basilisk gave one last loud shriek, and its head crashed with a great SPLASH onto the floor below. He had done it, but his victory came at a great cost.

Harry did not know how potent the venom of the basilisk is, but it was listed on Hermione's paper as one of it's "ways of killing", so he assumed it's poisonous. Even as Harry somehow made his way down the face of the stone statue, he could feel the excruciating pain spreading. Harry knew that there was nothing to be done.

"Remarkable isn't it?", asked Tom, "How quickly the venom of the Basilisk penetrates the body."

Harry reached Ginny, and squinted up at Tom. He had to squint because his vision was already beginning to fail because of the venom. It was getting blurry, and a blackness was gathering at the edges of it.

"I guess you have a little more than a minute to live, you'll be with your dear mudblood mother soon Harry."

Harry had accepted his imminent death already, but his job was not yet finished. While the Basilisk was dead, Riddle was still here and Harry would take Riddle with him if he had to. Harry wondered how he could get rid of Riddle. He no longer had the strength to wield the sword, and he couldn't be sure he could wrestle his wand from Riddle either. Maybe he could stab him with the Basilisk fang?

"Funny, the damage a silly little book can do", Riddle continued gloating, "especially in the hands of a silly little girl!"

At these words, Harry's failing vision came upon the book on Ginny's chest. Harry recognized it as the Diary, and he quickly flipped it open onto the floor.

"What are you doing?", frowned Riddle.

Harry picked up the Basilisk fang and gripped it in a way such that there could be no mistaking his intentions. Riddle's cry of "Stop No!" told Harry's venom-addled mind everything he needed to know, and he plunged the fang into the book.

Harry vision was so far gone by this point that he couldn't see much more than a light emanating from Riddle's form, but he stabbed the other half of the book for good measure when he noticed Riddle begin moving toward him, and stabbed the covers after closing the book again for good measure. Finally, it sounded like a strange machine-gun was fired and Riddle vanished in a stream of light. It was over.

Harry heard a gasp from Ginny, and watched as she (he could only assume) sat up. Harry's hearing was beginning to fade as well now as his vision went completely black and the Goblet's view-screen lifted to complete silence in the Great Hall. Harry looked around and noticed everybody was holding their arms where the pain was a second ago. Many were in tears, and Harry could see people blinking wildly. The poor vision he suffered as a result of the venom was quite disorienting, and it was taking a while for all the symptoms to go away even after the Goblet's screen was gone.

 **=== Authors Notes ===**

Thanks for the patience guys. It's been a busy week now that vacation is over. These reviews are so interesting to read, keep them coming.

 **General Comments**

As you all see by now, I didn't jump straight into the basilisk scene. As I was skimming through the second book, I realized a great deal of Harry's worthiness for the tournament is measured not only in how he dealt with the chamber, but also in how he came to be there. His decision to go down there despite knowing all he did about the Basilisk is a testament to his bravery.

There are also many fics that revisit the chamber itself, but don't revisit the apprehension that the second book makes you feel throughout the story as it built up to the finale. I always felt that those chamber encounters without the proper build-up were missing something big.

This likewise goes for Harry's adventure in first year.

 **Dursley Abuse**

There has been a mixed response with regards to the Dursley abuse in the polls. However, the whole concept of this fic was invented with Harry's Hogwarts adventures in mind, and I don't think I truly ever considered having the Goblet show an entire episode of Dursley abuse the way it does with the Chamber here. However, that is not to say that the effects of that abuse are not felt. What do you guys think with the methods I used to convey just how bad it is without actually showing it?

I always thought that Harry had thoughts like these in mind (consciously or unconsciously) before he went into the Chamber, especially in those fics where the abuse got really bad and Harry got rescued by Snape or somebody else.

 **The Chamber Battle**

I hope you guys enjoyed the confrontation down in the chamber itself. I tried to make it more exciting by adding Harry's thoughts into the fight that we all know and love from the movie. While this medium makes it difficult to create reactions on the part of the characters, you can be sure that the hammer will fall in the next chapter. There are soooo many things for the characters to react to here, including the fact that Harry was able to keep a cool head and think strategy in a situation like that.


	5. Ch 05: The Erumpent Horn

**The Goblet 's Surprise**

Summary

As part of the Triwizard Tournament, the Goblet of Fire may re-ignite after choosing the champions. This is a rare part of the choosing ceremony during which the goblet justifies its choices by showing something about each champion that influenced its decision.

Chapter 5: The Erumpent Horn

When Krum's, Fleur's and Cedric's memories ended, they left the audience with a sense of victory (mixed with pain in Krum's case), but for whatever reason, the Goblet decided to end Harry's adventure before Fawkes got a chance to heal him. As a result, the audience's final impression was the excruciating pain of the fang wound coupled with failing vision and finally topped with the resigned acceptance of ones impending death. The last one in particular is a feeling that most were not accustomed to.

To make matters worse, the pain and failing vision did not simply disappear like a light might go out. The pain gradually receded as though a poison was being extracted, and the eye-sight took its time to fully return as well. This had the effect of keeping the sense of impending doom going beyond the end of the vision, and Harry was reminded of some of those times when he abruptly woke up from a nightmare, with the terrors ringing in his ears as he re-entered the waking world.

Harry quickly jumped to his feet, and was already running out of the Great Hall before anybody had recovered. Seems all those times that Uncle Vernon woke him from a nightmare by pulling him out of his cupboard, and immediately demanding that he cook had some uses afterall. Harry had anticipated his need to escape, and was already prepared with his cloak and map. He got them out, and quickly made his way to the hidden passage that he used yesterday while casting magic detection charms as he went to keep tabs on any potential quarry. He needn't had bothered, he was already in the passageway by the time anybody else exited the Great Hall.

With the map unfolded on the stairs, Harry sat down and absently watched the dots while he contemplated what tonight's events mean for the future.

Firstly, holding back in classes was out. He made the decision to hold back in his first year for several reasons, but most of them seem moot now. Ron was no longer friendly, so his fear of losing that friendship didn't matter anymore. His defeat of the Basilisk and Voldemort would raise the worship levels to new heights no matter what he does, so his efforts to appear average, in the hope that being average would reduce the staring, don't seem to matter anymore either.

More than that, was the re-experiencing of the near-death down in the chamber. When Harry originally survived that back in his second year, the threat was no more. Harry was simply happy to be alive, and treated the experience just like the many bad experiences he had accumulated at the Dursleys ... pushing it to the back of his mind and pretending that it never happened.

This time, Harry exited the experience without the luxury of knowing that the danger has passed. Somebody had put his name into the Goblet of Fire, and considering the death toll that the tournament was famous for, there could only be one reason for it. The knowledge that the danger is still ahead, combined with the fresh memory of his fear in the face of the Basilisk and Voldemort, caused Harry to vow that he would do everything in his power to prepare for the next encounter.

Speaking of the Dursleys, Harry remembered the discussion he had with Dumbledore at the end of his first year when he begged Dumbledore to let him stay somewhere else. Dumbledore had impressed upon him the importance of staying with his Aunt, and with that in mind, Harry wondered what Dumbledore was doing to do now that everybody knows the lengths Harry would go to just to reduce the amount of time he spent with his family.

Harry scanned the map, and noticed that Dumbledore, Madam Bones, Fudge, Malfoy, and half a dozen teachers were nowhere to be found. Harry spent so much time thinking about his decision to hold back that he lost track of what was going on in the map, and it looked like everybody was dismissed from the Great Hall some time ago. A few people were clustered in the four common rooms and in the dungeon area near Snape's quarters, and to Harry's amusement, Moaning Myrtles bathroom. A large number of people were moving about the castle seemingly randomly. Harry guessed that they were using the magic detection charm to try and find him again, but quite a number of people decided to stop using the charm and search using different methods.

Feeling vindicated in his decision to hide, Harry wondered what his friends were doing as he expected them to find him by now, but there was so much going on in the map that Harry still couldn't find them after a few minutes. Maybe their absence could be explained by whatever was causing half the adults to be absent.

Returning to his thoughts about Dumbledore and the Dursleys, while Harry had some hope that he would never have to return, he knew better from bitter experience. There was no point in getting his hopes up, so he resigned himself to the likelihood that Dumbledore would convince everybody that he needed to stay there for his safety.

Harry turned his eyes back to the map, and began wondering how and when to re-appear. There were still clusters of people at Snape's quarters and Moaning Myrtles bathroom, and the swarm of people walking randomly around the castle. He would definitely wait ...

"Ah, there you are Harry", said a voice behind him.

Harry jumped so badly that he lost his footing, and would have tumbled down the stairs if he hadn't managed to grab the railing at the last second. Heart hammering, Harry looked up toward the voice and saw Nearly Headless Nick.

"Nick!", gasped Harry, "How did you find me?"

"By accident", replied Nick, "Moving through this wall is a shortcut to get to the dungeons from the sixth floor".

Harry briefly wondered if that had anything to do with why the magic sensor charm was locating him in the dungeons whenever he was inside this passage. He glanced at the map, and now that he looked for it, he noticed that there were more wandering people clustered around a specific spot on the sixth floor than anywhere else in the castle. He looked up at Nick again and asked,

"You won't tell them you saw me will you?"

"Of course I'm going to tell them that I saw you", replied Nick with a concerned frown as though it was obvious.

"Please!", said Harry desperately, "I'm not ready to face them!"

"Oh, I didn't say that I would lead them to you, I said that I will tell them that I saw you"

Harry stared at Nick

"And then I will simply float through a wall", said Nick with a smug look, "We ghosts need some entertainment too you know". Before Harry could say anything in response to this, Nick disappeared through the wall. Harry's eyes flew to the map, and he saw Snape move suddenly to another part of the room he was in. There was a pause, and then Snape's dot rushed to the next room and stayed there. Another pause, and Snape left his quarters at a high pace and was moving around the dungeons. The way that Snape was moving around made Harry think that Snape was looking for rooms that might be behind a specific wall in his quarters.

After some time, Snape returned to his quarters, and went directly to the wall that he had fled from earlier when Nick disappeared. Snape's dot was moving near it and Harry suspected that Snape was examining it closely. After an eternity of this, Snape's dot moved away back to the spot he was in before Nick had apparently startled him. As Harry's thoughts were returning to the problem to re-appearing, he thought he saw Dumbledore's dot suddenly appear out of the corner of his eye. He looked, and saw that Dumbledore was now in his office. As he stared, Madam Bones suddenly appeared as well, and then Dumbledore moved to the spot where he saw Madam Bones appear. After some time, Snape's dot suddenly appeared.

Harry's eyes widened, and he glanced at Snape's quarters to find them empty. Didn't Hermione say that nobody can apparate or dissaparate within Hogwarts? Was there a secret passage that that leads directly to Dumbledore's office?. Even as he watched, Snape, Dumbledore, and Bones vanished at the exact same spot that they all appeared from, and he saw them all re-appear in Snape's quarters. Hmm, too fast for a passage. Perhaps they were using the floo.

Harry shuddered at the thought of using the floo so much in the span of a few minutes, and dismissed that possibility. Harry's alarm suddenly grew when all three of them went directly to the wall that Snape was examiming earlier. Could Dumbledore find a way to go through the wall like Nick did? Deciding not to take any chances, Harry cleared the map, and put on his invisibility cloak.

No sooner was Harry under the cloak, when light suddenly streamed into the passage and blinded him. Harry's eyes adjusted quickly, and he found himself looking at Snape, Bones, and Dumbledore through the folds of his cloak. Dumbledore was looking directly at him through his half-moon spectacles, but Snape and Bones were looking into the passage with awe and had not seen Harry.

Harry would have considered backing away and hoping that he could get away, but he knew that was a fools errand since Dumbledore could see through his cloak. Dumbledore alone could see the full strangeness of the situation.

"I have always heard about these secret passageways", said Bones with awe. "Legend says that every single classroom and living space in the castle is connected to a passageway, and they say that these passageways defy logic to confuse anyone who finds one by accident"

"Yes indeed", chucked Dumbledore, "These passages are meant to help the defenders of the castle get around quicker in the event of a siege, but alas, the founders took most of the secrets to their graves. I am most curious on how you found this passage Harry"

Madam Bones looked ready to reply, but Dumbledore's last statement derailed that and caused her to say a confused "Who are you talking to Dumbledore?". It was clear that Snape had put two and two together and had stepped out of the way to give Harry a place to step through despite not being able to see him. Madam Bones continued to look confused.

 **\- - - A few hours ago - - -**

The pensieve memory ended and the Wizengamot court room came back into focus for Madam Bones. It was an emergency meeting called up by many of the wizengamot members, and in the interests of bringing all those absent from Hogwarts up to speed, they had agreed to start the session by watching Harry Potter's memories using the Wizengamot pensieve. Madam Bones used to be awed by the Wizengamot pensieve.

Unlike conventional pensieve's the Wizengamot pensieve is able to take an entire room of people into the memory without needing everyone to crowd around it. That alone is an impressive feat of magic, but was sadly underwhelming after the experience she just had thanks to the Goblet of Fire. The Wizengamot pensieve did not provide insight into Harry's thoughts, emotions or even the pain he suffered. It was like reading an official auror mission report about the mission you once participated in. The report always fell short.

"Why did the memory end there?", asked one of the Wizengamot members.

"I believe the Goblet terminated the memory due to magical exhaustion", said Dumbledore, who Bones remembered casting a plethora of diagnostic charms on the Goblet before coming to the emergency meeting.

"What do you mean 'magical exhaustion'?", sneered Lucius Malfoy with a mocking tone, "It's not even alive, how can it be exhausted?"

"Alive or not", said Dumbledore, "The fact remains that the Goblet ran out of magic while showing the memory"

"How could it run out of magic Dumbledore?", asked another Wizengamot member, "We've watched longer memories than this on our pensieve during the Death Eater trials, and the Goblet of Fire is known to be a far more powerful magical object than our pensieve."

"Ah, but your pensieve did not make us privy to Mr Potter's thoughts, emotions, or even the physical _pain_ he suffered did it?", asked Dumbledore calmly, though he put emphasis on pain. "At the precise moment that the memory cuts off, the Goblet of Fire was re-creating the excruciating pain and symptoms of Basilisk Venom poisoning in every single person watching the memory, which consisted of several thousand."

Many of the Wizengamot members were remembering the fang that lodged itself in Harry's arm, and Madam Bones saw some of them go green with realization.

"I see", said the member who was arguing with Dumbledore, "Speaking of which, how did Mr Potter survive Basilisk Venom poisoning? Last I checked, there was no cure for that"

"When did you have cause to check?", asked Malfoy suspiciously, "Basilisks are extremely rare"

"The cure is just as rare as the venom is", said Dumbledore quickly before the two Wizengamot members could start an argument, "phoenix tears. However, we are getting off-track here. We have convened here today to figure out what to tell the public when this story comes out and they start demanding answers."

"What do they care? The monster is dead as we all just saw", sneered Lucius Malfoy.

"The public will want to know how it entered the castle in the first place", said the Wizengamot member, "We need to assure them that their children will not be endangered like this again, or we run the risk of them pulling their children out of Hogwarts"

"Didn't you pay attention to the memories?", asked Malfoy, "That chamber was the home for the creature since the time of Salazar Slytherin, it has been there the whole time"

"Then why did it choose the year of 1992 to attack?", challenged the Wizengamot member.

"How am I supposed to know?", sneered Malfoy, "I'm not an expert on the thought processes of ancient basilisks. You're the one who has apparently been researching Basilisks, perhaps you can tell me?"

"Obviously that manifestation of You-Know-Who that Mr Potter defeated was what woke the Basilisk that year", said another member.

"And as you said yourself", said Malfoy, "Mr Potter defeated the Dark Lord, so no risk of that happening again. That should satisfy the public."

"The manifestation of Voldemort was tied to the black diary that Mr Potter stabbed with the fang", said Dumbledore, "The question here is, How did Ms Weasley come into possession of such a powerful dark artifact?"

"Or better yet", sneered Malfoy, "How did our esteemed headmaster fail to detect that Ms Weasley brought such a powerful dark artifact into the school? Aren't you the wardmaster of Hogwarts?"

"Yes, I am indeed the wardmaster", said Dumbledore, "but wards are not perfect, and suffice it to say that in this case, the wards did not detect the artifact"

"Cut the crap Dumbledore, You said yourself that the public will demand answers, and they will want to know how such an artifact slipped past your omniscience", said Malfoy with a touch of sarcasm at the end, "How will you ensure that no more such artifacts are brought into the school?"

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows at Mr Malfoy, "As you are no longer a member of the Hogwarts Board of Governers Mr Malfoy, you are no longer privy to the details of how we defend the castle."

"I may no longer be privy to that information Chief Warlock, but as our basilisk researcher here pointed out", here Malfoy sneered at the Wizengamot member who he argued with earlier, "we run the risk of the public pulling students out of Hogwarts. Do you think they will be satisfied with the 'How we defend your children is a secret' argument? You will need to tell them _something_ , and we Wizengamot members have higher security clearence than the peasants out there. So cut the crap, and tell us how that book got in. You've had over a year to investigate this issue"

Dumbledore sighed, this conversation was not going the way he wanted it. But he didn't see any harm with telling a potential dark lord supporter about a weakness that has already been patched, but he had concerns about other possible similar weaknesses

"The dark object detection wards did not cover the boathouse by which the first years enter the castle", said Dumbledore, "I do not know why the founders neglected to ward that entrance. Perhaps because most wizards don't arrive by boat, and the first-year boat trip is something that we started after the time of the founders. At any rate, I have already adjusted the wards to cover that entrance"

"You mean to tell me, that if Voldemort wanted to attack the school during the war, all he had to do was give a powerful dark artifact to a _first year!?_ ", exclaimed one of the Wizengamot members.

"Not necessarily", said Dumbledore, "School trunks still pass through properly warded sections of the castle, the first year in question would need to be carrying the package with them"

"Small comfort", scoffed Malfoy, "If you so deign to take a trip to Borgin and Burks at Knockturn Alley, you will find that a large amount of objects in there that can be carried by a first year without arousing suspicion!"  
"How often did you have to _deign_ to enter that miserable shop, to become familiar enough with their wares, in order to make such an assesment Mr Malfoy?" asked the Wizengamot member who Malfoy kept attacking with the basilisk comments.

"That's enough", said Dumbledore, tired of those two constantly sniping eachother during every single wizengamot meeting, "I believe my explanation for how the book entered Hogwarts ground and the measures I have already taken to prevent a recurrence will be enough for the public, and should be enough for you Mr Malfoy"

Mr Malfoy didn't say anything

"The fact remains that Ms Weasley came into possession of the book somehow, and the public will want to know how that happened. Whoever is responsible for that put hundreds of children in mortal danger, and we are yet to answer this question"

"You've had a year to investigate that as well Chief Warlock", sneered Malfoy, "What did you find?".

Dumbledore sighed again, though he had his suspicions, there wasn't enough to definitevely prove anything.

"Alas, I have not been able to find any evidence to explain how the book came into Ms Weasley's possession. All we know is that Ms Weasley found it in her school books after a trip to Diagon Alley, but she doesn't know how it got there"

"Well, Mr Potter's memories don't shed any light on that either", said Malfoy, "I say we just tell the peasants out there to keep a closer eye on what their brats pick up from the floor at Diagon Alley, and leave it at that."

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows at Malfoy for his suggestion to blame the parents for this.

"Chief Warlock", called Madam Bones, who finally had enough and decided to come forward with her suspicions, "I believe Mr Potter's memories may indeed provide a very strong hint as to who is responsible for giving Ms Weasley the dark book"

"Oh? And what might that be Madam?", inquired Dumbledore.

"The house elf that came to visit warning Mr Potter about the dangers", said Madam Bones as Lucius Malfoy's face gave a spasm, but remained sneering. Madam Bones looked at her notes that she took during the Goblet's viewing, and continued, "The elf in question made a few curious statements during his very first visit"

"You mean like telling Mr Potter to stay away from Hogwarts?", piped up one of the Wizengamot members, "I still think that elf should be given clothes for such a suggestion"

Madam Bones scowled at the interruption, and continued, "The elf said that he _has known it for months_ and that _if Harry Potter goes back to Hogwarts, he will be in mortal danger._ I think we can all agree that his second statement is true given what we have all seen, but the fact that the elf knew this was coming for _months_ before the start of the 1992 year and was unable to give Mr Potter any details tells me that he was forbidden to speak of it, which means that the elf's owner is likely the one responsible"

There was silence, some of the wizengamot members were looking at Malfoy with growing comprehension on their faces.

"The elf is owned by none other than Lucius Malfoy, and I move that we question him under Veritaserum right now", finished Madam Bones.

This isn't the first time that somebody called for Veritaserum questioning of Lucius Malfoy, but it's the first time that nobody objected in his defense. The slight possibility that Lucius Malfoy had single handedly endagered many wizarding children, combined with his connection to the house elf from Mr Potter's memories means that he will be getting no support unless the veritaserum questioning exxonerated him. This was a testament to how important children are to the wizarding world, and if it indeed turns out that he is responsible, then it's clear that for once, Malfoy stepped over the line.

The aurors dragged Malfoy to the central floor of the court room, and chained him in the chair below. The scene became eerily similar to the Death Eater trials they all had to endure years back. They gave him the three drops of Veritaserum. Suddenly, Madam Bones felt a sense of foreboding. Malfoy was not fighting against this like all the other death eaters had in the past. She narrowed her eyes. Malfoy's eyes became black.

"What is your name?", asked Madam Bones in her capacity as the head of the DMLE.

"Lucius Abraxas Malfoy", said Malfoy in a monotone

With the test question out of the way, Madam Bones went to the meat of the matter,

"Do you own the house elf we saw in Mr Potter's memories?", asked Bones

"No", replied Malfoy in the same monotone.

There was silence. Madam Bones was thrown for a loop. She was sure she remembered the elf serving her a few years back when Malfoy invited her and a few of the other Wizengamot members to a dinner party at his mansion. Apparently, the other Wizengamot members who attended that party were thinking the same thing, and one of them passed a note to Madam Bones. Bones looked at the note, and she understood.

"Did you _ever_ own the elf in question?", asked Bones

"Yes", said Malfoy

"When did you give him clothes?", asked Bones

"May 1993", said Malfoy

That would be around the time Mr Potter encountered the Basilisk, Madam Bones was surprised, she was suspecting that Lucius freed the elf just before the meeting in case he was questioned about owning the elf. She wouldn't put it past him. Since she already confirmed that Malfoy definitely owned the elf during the time that the elf in question warned Mr Potter, she continued to the next line of questioning.

"Did you ensure that Ms Weasley obtained the diary?"

"Yes", said Malfoy.

"To what purpose?", asked Bones with rising anger now that her suspicion was confirmed.

"To discredit Arthur Weasley and his Muggle Protection Act", said Malfoy. Bones noticed some of the other Wizengamot members scowled at the mention of the act, "I was hoping to get the Act repealed in the event it was revealed that Arthur Weasley's daughter was caught attacking Muggle Borns. Unfortunately, Dumbledore ruined that plan by ensuring nobody was accused"

"Give him the antidote", said Bones with disgust. Though she should have expected it, it was infuriating to know that the welfare of an entire generation of wizarding children was put at risk for political reasons. The aurors gave Lucius the antidote, who apparently realizing that the gambit was up, and decided to start screaming. Bones silenced him with a flick of her wand.

"Those in favor of conviction?", said Bones. Nearly everybody raised their hands, and Bones took note of those who abstained. There was no point is asking if anybody was in favor of clearing the accused, far more than half voted for conviction.

"Take him away aurors", barked Bones. The aurors dragged Malfoy out of the court room.

"I believe that will be enough for any concerns the public might have about this issue", said Dumbledore. Is there anything else?

"Yes there is Dumbledore", said Bones consulting her notes again, "Minister, would you care to explain to us under what authority you sent Mr Hagrid to Azkaban without a trial?"

\- - - **an hour later - - -**

"That fool of a minister, and damn you for not checking up on Mr Potter all these years! This entire situation could have been avoided!" snarled Bones as soon as she entered Dumbledore's office through the floo. "Headmaster, get Harry Potter up here as soon as you can!".

Without a word, Dumbledore went to the floo, and called "Minerva McGonagall's quarters!", he bent down in the floo call position, and called, "Minerva, would you be so kind as to escort Mr Potter up to my office? It's urgent."

"Albus!", said McGonagall startled, "I'm afraid Mr Potter has dissapeared just like he did yesterday. Not even the magical sensor detection charms can find him! curse Diggory for learning that charm!"

"Is the charm still claiming Mr Potter to be in Severus' Quarters?"

"Yes", said McGonagall

"Thank you", said Dumbledore and pulled out of the fire.

"Mr Potter disappeared using whatever means he did yesterday, it's claiming that he's in Severus' quarters again", said Dumbledore in a resigned voice

Madam Bones raised her eyebrows, "I see, though I don't blame the boy for hiding, It's still imperative that we find him before Cornelius does"

"Give me a moment to call Severus", said Dumbledore, and he kneeled at the fireplace again after shouting "Severus Snape's Quarters"

"Severus! Would you step through to my office? We have an urgent matter to discuss"

After Snape stepped through, he asked "What is it headmaster?"

"Harry Potter's guardianship has been thrown into the air, and we are in a position where the first to catch it will be his guardian. We need to find Mr Potter before Cornelius or any of his supporters find him", said Dumbledore.

"I'll demand a more thourough explanation headmaster, but suffice it to say, I did see something odd earlier in my quarters that might explain why the charm is placing Potter there even though he's not there."

Bones' eyes widened, and she commanded, "Lead the way!"

"Severus Snape's Quarters!", shouted Snape while throwing the green powder into the flames, and they all flamed to Snape's quarters.

"Well?", demanded Bones

Snape pointed to the opposite wall, and said "The cursed Gryffindor ghost phased through that wall and claimed that that he saw Potter less than a minute before. When I demanded to know where, the damn ghost phased through a different wall without answering me, and I noticed that the ghost didn't appear on the other side of the wall when he phased the second time."

"Where are you going with this?", asked Bones

"I think this wall", said Snape, gesturing to the opposite wall, "is capable of going somewhere else in the castle like the gateway at Kings Cross if you know how to activate it!"

At Snape's words, Dumbledore made his way to the wall that Snape pointed out and started casting diagnostic charms, many of which Bones had never heard of. She sometimes wondered if Dumbledore threw in nonsense in the middle of his spell chains to seem wiser than he really was.

"Curious", said Dumbledore, "These three points are linked .."

Snape and Bones looked at eachother bewildered. They then saw Dumbledore carefully place 3 fingers at three seemingly inconspicuous spots on the wall, and the wall faded before their eyes. They saw what looked like an empty stairway moving perpendicular to their position, descending into darkness on one side, and ascending into darkness on the other.

Madam Bones was looking at the passage with awe, "I have always heard about these secret passageways", said Bones with awe. "Legend says that every single classroom and living space in the castle is connected to a passageway, and they say that these passageways defy logic to confuse anyone who finds one by accident"

"Yes indeed", chucked Dumbledore, "These passages are meant to help the defenders of the castle get around quicker in the event of a siege, but alas, the founders took most of the secrets to their graves. I am most curious on how you found this passage Harry"

Madam Bones looked ready to reply, but Dumbledore's last statement derailed that and caused her to say a confused "Who are you talking to Dumbledore?". Inexplicably, Snape moved to the side, confusing Madam Bones more. As she was looking between Dumbledore and Snape, she noticed from the corner of her eyes the unmistakable signs of somebody pulling off an invisibility cloak.

 **\- - - Returning perspective back to Harry - - -**

Harry was startled to have a wand pointed at his face the moment he pulled off his cloak.

"Mr Potter!", exclaimed Madam Bones, "You nearly gave me a heart attack! Do you have any idea how traumatizing it is for people to see the transparent folds of a cloak they know nothing about? It's usually the very last thing they see during a war"

"Calm down Madam Bones", said Dumbledore, "Didn't you impress upon me that time is of the essense?"

Apparently deciding that she had bigger things to worry about than why a fourteen-year old was in possession of an invisibility cloak, Madam Bones began.

"Please sit down Mr Potter, we have much to tell you and not much time before you need to make a decision"

Anxious about the impending decision that was apparently so important, Harry sat down, and waited expectantly

"About the Dursleys", said Bones, and Harry braced himself for the expected declaration that he must return there for his safety. He wasn't dissapointed.

"Dumbledore here believes that your safety is paramount, and so you must return there", said Bones. Harry's heart sank despite the fact that he expected it.

"WHAT!", exclaimed Snape startling Harry.

" _However_ " said Madam Bones loudly over Snape's shout, "Dumbledore's beliefs no longer matter when it comes to your guradianship, so I can safely say you will never have to set foot in that place again"

"How did that happen?", inquired Harry. Dumbledore had told him that he's Harry's magical guardian when he begged to stay at Hogwarts at the end of his first year. How did that get overturned?

"It happened many years ago due to Dumbledore's failure to check up on you over the years", said Bones, "It's only through sheer dumb luck that the likes of Malfoy or Fudge didn't discover this. Dumbledore's magical guardianship was the only thing preventing your removal from that place"

"What about the fact that Aunt Petunia is my guardian?", asked Harry.

"Mr Potter, I think you've been in the wizarding world long enough to know how much respect most wizards have for muggles ... that is to say _none_. You will find that our laws reflect this attitude, and permit magical children to be taken away from muggle parents or guardians without so much as an excuse"

"So what prevented somebody from taking me before?", asked Harry, "and what prevents muggle borns from being taken away? Most I know live with their muggle parents"

"Muggle borns are not much better than muggles in the pureblood hierarchy, they are mostly ignored for that reason, but you are the Boy-Who-Lived, and the only thing preventing somebody from stealing guardianship was Dumbledore. Nobody was going to challenge his magical guardianship."

"Unfortunately, Dumbledore violated the contract by not looking after you, and allowing you to get hurt in your own home. Magic had therefore voided his guardianship years ago, and as I said before, it was sheer dumb luck that this wasn't noticed earlier. Fudge and Malfoy would have been the first to be informed if it was noticed."

"So what caused it to be noticed today?", asked Harry to break the silence, he already suspected the answer.

"Your memories", said Bones predictably, "Fudge is saavy enough to know that Dumbledore' probably doesn't have the contract anymore, and has already been attempting to gain guardianship over you"

"Why does the minister want to be my guardian?", asked Harry

"The minister is on very thin ice right now when it comes to his political position. The dementor fisco last year, and the mess at the Quiddich World Cup this year has formed an Erumpent Horn, and the last the thing minister needs is for somebody to cast a spell at the Erumpent Horn"

At Harry's confused expression, Dumbledore said "an Erumpent Horn is a magical object that explodes at the slightest provocation, casting a spell at it is a very bad idea"

"Precisely", agreed Bones, "Unfortunately, your memories have cast the spell, and I suspect he is trying to gain public approval by 'rescusing the Boy-Who-Lived from his horrible guardians' as a way to distract the public from all the other problems"

Harry scowled at the blatant attempt to use his fame for political gain, and asked,

"So what's stopping him?"

"The contract requires your blood in order to go into effect", said Bones, "so naturally, the minister needs to find you before he can take guardianship. To prevent him from taking guardianship, I have taken one of the forms myself, and all I need now is your signature Harry"

Harry looked at Bones suspiciously. On one hand, she seemed to be truthful about the whole thing, but on the other, how does he know that _she_ is not doing this for public approval? He voiced that concern.

"It's okay Harry", said Dumbledore, "you can trust Madam Bones"

 **\- - - an hour later - - -**

Harry's head was swimming with everything that happened since getting caught in the passageway, and just as Professor McGonagall was about to escort him back into the secret passageway, and on to Gryffindor Tower (they decided to use the back door because the dungeons were still crawling with search parties), Harry heard his name.

"Mr Potter", it was Snape, "I must apologize for my treatment of you in the past three years." He seemed to want to say more, but stopped himself, and closed the doorway that separated the secret passageway from his quarters.

Harry started walking down, but McGonagall stopped him

"Where do you think you are going Mr Potter? Gryffindor Tower is upstairs not down"

"This passage doesn't work that way Professor", said Harry, "Going downstairs will take you to the fifth floor, but going upstairs will take you to the first"

"H-How?", asked McGonagall, clearly trying to wrap her mind around that conundrum

"Magic", said Harry with a grin. They made their way to the bottom of the stairs, and exited the passageway. Harry now knew they needed to go more quickly. Somebody will cast the charm soon and detect his presence if they haven't already. They managed to make it to the portrait of the fat lady without meeting anyone, and entered. At least now, three quarters of the school could not get to him. The last quarter was clearly waiting for him as the common room was packed.

"Everyone off to bed!", barked Professor McGonagall as curfew had started a while ago. McGonagall led Harry all the way to the door of his dorm room, and Harry entered to find Fred, George, Ginny, Ron, Neville, Seamus, Dean, and Hermione there

For a moment, Harry stood there staring at them, and then Hermione rushed at him and enveloped him in a hug. The flinch didn't do unnoticed by anybody in the room, who know knew to look for it, and what it meant. Hermione was joined by everyone else except for Ron, Dean, Seamus and Neville, who were standing there looking awkward.

"Hey, guys", choked Harry, "What's all this? You've all known what happened in the Chamber"

"Harry, knowing what happened and experiencing it are two different things", said Fred.

"Yea, mate", continued George, "You said you fought a big snake and killed it with a sword, but I've been picturing you bravely chopping off the head of a python or something"

"And blimey", continued Fred, "that snake was too big for you to simply chop its head off!"

"Merlin's Beard, you needed to climb to the top of a statue just to get level with it's head!", exclaimed George.

It was a testament to how distressed the twins were that they couldn't even get their twin speak correct. Though that was probably for the best, Harry didn't need a headache on top of everything else that happened today

"I never realized how close we got to losing you Harry", said Fred, and Hermione's sobbing intensified at Fred words.

Harry felt a lump in his throat, and he immediately began the breathing exercises that he knew would push it down. Harry's change in breathing startled the others, and Hermione stopped crying and looking at him with a calculating look.

Suddenly Hermione gasped and exclaimed, "How could I be so stupid? Harry I am so sorry!, I should have realized it before"

"What are you on about?", asked Harry bewildered, stopping his breathing exercises since his confusion removed the lump.

"I just remembered something you said at the end of that year", said Hermione, her voice getting more hysterical with every word, "When I asked you if your relatives would be proud of what you've done that year, you said ... you said ..."

"What did you say?", asked Ginny.

"He said ...", tried Hermione, but she couldn't say it.

"All those times I could have died, and I didn't manage it?", said Harry, remembering what Hermione was referring to, and deciding to put her out of her misery, "They'd be furious."

Comprehension dawned on the other's faces.

"I thought you were joking", said Fred with shock on his face.

"We were so happy that you cracked a joke for once", said George

"But it turns out you were serious", said Fred

The twins suddenly got a serious look in their eyes

"Harry, we will do everything we can to make sure you never have to return to that hellhole", said Fred with a determination that Harry had never seen in his face before. Harry was about to tell him that he won't go to the Dursleys anymore, but the lump in his throat had returned at Fred's heartfelt exclamation, and prevented him from saying it. He began the breathing exercises again,

Unlike in the past, when he had to do the breathing exercises to avoid Uncle Vernon seeing him cry, Hermione's tightening of her hug, and the warmth that he was feeling now did what no beating had accomplished before. The dam broke.

 **=== Authors Notes ===**

Grand reviews guys! I'm glad that you guys are enjoying this :)

 **Harry's Guardianship**

Though I have some ideas on who will be his guardian, I'm not completely set in stone yet. (that particular cliffhanger is a cliffhanger for me too hehe)

 **Goblet**

 _Warning – spoilers for fanfic in this section_

For those of you wondering, the Goblet will recover from the magical depletion and the visions are going to continue, however, the consequences and reactions are many and varied, and cannot all be fit into the time space of one day. While I did not plan to use the premature ending of the vision this way, it's still an opportunity to space out the visions over a longer period of time ... giving the wizarding world time to cool down before throwing in the next bomb. And yes, I have already decided which vision is next (there is a hint in this chapter)

 **Misc**

I had not planned much of the story beyond the first vision when I started this fanfic, and me trying to figure out where to take this was a big part of the reason for the delay between chpt 4 and 5. It's nice to see that you guys are patient (I also have no idea what the typical time interval between updates is for other fanfics, can any of you shed light on that?)

 **2/8/27 Edits done to chapters 1-5**

Mostly spelling errors, and other minor things you guys pointed out in the reviews. Do you guys get email notices when I edit chapters?

Also, Chapter 6 is coming on nicely, and assuming I don't get a lot of distractions at my job, I might be able to get it published before the end of the weekend :)

 **=== Poll ===**

 **Harry's Guardianship**

Who do you guys think should be Harry's guardian?


	6. Ch 06: The Goblet's Surprise

**The Goblet 's Surprise**

Summary

As part of the Triwizard Tournament, the Goblet of Fire may re-ignite after choosing the champions. This is a rare part of the choosing ceremony during which the goblet justifies its choices by showing something about each champion that influenced its decision.

Chapter 6: The Goblet's Surprise

Harry was in the library. That morning, Harry caught a glimpse of his calendar, and saw that it was already November 5th. This made Harry realize that the Goblet's sudden interruption did not stop time. Already a fifth of the time he had available to prepare for the first task had elapsed, and in light of Harry's newfound determination to do better, this didn't sit well with him. Since it was early Saturday morning, there were no classes, and so, not many people were in the Library. Even so, Harry was hiding under his cloak so as to not be seen by accident. He didn't know how much time he had before somebody with a magical signature detection charm found him here.

Fortunately, the Goblet had given Harry a lead. When it was showing his timeline, he noticed that the pins associated with all three of his end-of-year adventures were marked as "Worthy of the Tournament". Harry didn't remember seeing anything of the sort on the timelines of any of the other champions, though it was possible that Fleur's timeline had so many pins that the "Worthy" ones were hidden in the middle of the regular ones.

Harry didn't know what it meant for an adventure to be worthy of the tournament, so without anything to go on, he decided to treat these adventures as potential contenders for a Triwizard task. That meant looking for things that all three adventures had in common. The answer came easily, Harry had faced dangerous magical creatures in all three adventures.

Looking back at what it took to deal with the various creatures, Harry was dismayed to realize that there seemed to be a unique way to deal with each individual creature. The dementors required a patronus (a spell that took months to learn, time he didn't have), Fluffy required music (necessitating him bringing a musical instrument, something the rules disallow), and Harry didn't even know what to bring to another Basilisk encounter, He amused himself for a moment, wondering how the others would react if he brought a rooster with him to the task, and when the other champions inevitably questioned him, he would reply, "Didn't anyone tell you what we're facing?". Harry sobered again, the rooster thing seemed to be rumor, and Harry didn't feel like testing its accuracy with his life on the line.

Harry turned his thoughts to other creatures that he studied in Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid. Hippogriffs seemed to require a very specific way to approach them, and that was about all the useful information Harry got from last year. He cursed Malfoy for causing Hagrid to lose his nerve, and stop teaching them the more dangerous creatures. He might have been better prepared for the tournament otherwise!

Then there were the Blast-Ended Screwts that Hagrid was showing them this year, but so far, Hagrid himself didn't seem to know much about them, much less any useful information on how to deal with one. It seemed that each magical creature would require some effort to prepare for, and with the tournament organizers being tight-lipped about the task, it was impossible to know which direction to go in. This was why Harry was currently in the Magical Creature section of the library, skimming through the tomes, and hoping for inspiration.

"Harry", Harry jumped at being addressed since he was still cloaked, and turned to find Hermione looking in his general direction. Sighing, he took off his cloak.

"How did you find me?", asked Harry.

"Diggory's charm", replied Hermione. The charm had become known by this name because it was simpler than saying "Magical signature detection charm". Harry signed again

"So how much time before other people find me?", asked Harry

"They won't if you put that cloak back on", said Hermione

"What do you mean? You found me anyway", said Harry, but he put on the cloak anyway.

"I already cast a magical signature masking charm on you while you were distracted by those books", said Hermione, "I got tired of everyone using that charm to hound me thinking I'm with you, so I learned how to prevent it from finding me"

"Can you teach me?", asked Harry desperately, He would be able to spend more time in the library trying to find a solution to the tournament without the risk of being mobbed. Hermione's face lit up as she always did at the prospect of teaching him something, but then became apprehensive.

"I'll teach you Harry, but only if you promise to go to the Great Hall with me for lunch"

Harry's face became mutinous

"Why?", he demanded, "They're all going to stare at me, and I won't have a moment peace!"

"Yes, they will", agreed Hermione, "but they will forget about it soon enough, and everything will go back to normal after they process this new information. Remember what it was like when you first came to Hogwarts? Remember how everybody minded their own business after a while?"

"Hermione, I don't have the time to let them get used to it. The first task in is twenty days, and I need to focus on getting ready for it"

"How are you going to focus on the problem, if you're constantly checking to see if the masking charm wore off?", asked Hermione

"I …", started Harry, but he had to admit Hermione had a point as usual

"Harry, just come to the Great Hall, let them get used to the fact that you defeated a Basilisk, and then you can focus on the tournament"

"Alright, I promise to come for lunch", said Harry, then he smirked, "But only if you teach me the spell!"

 **\- later on in the Great Hall**

When Harry and Hermione entered the Great Hall, there was a lot of chatter going on, and everybody was so focused on whatever it was they were talking about, they didn't notice the new arrivals at first. However, as Harry and Hermione moved through the gap between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables to find a seat, those nearest noticed their presence, and it was like a silencing wave swept through the Great Hall, and Harry briefly wondered if somebody erected some sort of complicated silencing ward in the Great Hall.

By the time, they sat down, the silence was so complete that they could hear the sound of their robes rustling with crystal clear clarity, and the sound of somebody scratching a quill on parchment at the front of the Great Hall. Nervous under the stares, Harry tried to act normal, and looked toward the only distraction in the room, the scratching quill. At the front of the Hall, Harry saw one of the professor sitting at a table near the Goblet of Fire, carefully scratching something onto the parchments before her, occasionally examining the Goblet of Fire. She seemed so absorbed with her work, that she didn't notice the abrupt change in the noise level.

It was then that he noticed the Goblet was still burning, albeit weakly. Harry frowned, He distinctly remembered Dumbledore telling them the Goblet re-lit only because it needed to show them something. It showed them something from all four champions, why was it still lit?

"Why is the Goblet still lit?", Harry asked as a way to break the silence, he was alarmed by how much his voice carried in the Great Hall. His question broke whatever trance everybody was under.

"That's what Professor Babbling is trying to find out", said Alicia Spinnet with a quick glance at the professor with all the parchments. Harry had never seen somebody working with so many parchments at once, not even students reviewing for their newts near the end of the year.

"Professor Babbling?", asked Harry, he had an impression that he heard the name before, but he couldn't place it.

"She's the Ancient Runes professor", said Hermione, "one of the practical uses of ancient runes is the enchanting of magical objects, I suppose she's trying to understand why the Goblet is still lit by reading the runes etched into its surface"

"Hermione's correct", said Justin Finch-Fletchley, who just walked up to Harry, "Potter". Everyone looked at Justin, and the attention made him nervous. However, Justin plowed on.

"I'd like to thank you for what you did down in the chamber", said Justin, "When they told us that the monster and the heir was dealt with thanks to you, I simply assumed that you figured out some big clue that told the adults where to look, and they dealt with it. It's what I would have done. They also didn't tell us what the monster was, and the details from yesterday's vision really made it hit home how close I came to losing my life"

Harry didn't know how to respond to this, so he settled for "You're welcome Justin".

"Potter, I really can't express how thankful I am", said Justin, "If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask"

Harry simply nodded, he briefly thought about his tournament problem, but he doubted that Justin could help him with that, "I won't hesitate", he finally said. And with that, the floodgates of thankers opened. By the time lunch was over, Harry was thanked and apologized to by what felt like half the Hogwarts population. At some point, Penelope appeared, and after thanking Harry, she proceeded to thank Hermione as well for telling her to look through the mirror. This reminded everyone that Hermione played a big part in the vision yesterday, and the swarm of people started thanking her as well.

By the time lunch was over, neither Harry nor Hermione managed to eat anything.

 **\- Staff Room Meeting**

Dumbledore strode into the staff room for the meeting he called up earlier, and all noise ceased.

"Ah, we're all here, let's begin. First, do anybody have any concerns about the last few days?"

Flitwick stood up, "My ravens did not get much sleep last night due to the vision yesterday. What they saw kept most of them awake, and the few who did manage to fall asleep, had their slumber disturbed by nightmares."

"My puffs had the same problems", remarked Professor Sprout, "I spoke to a few of them, and I noticed that the nightmares tend to end exactly as yesterday's vision ended ... them dying from extreme pain. It is my opinion that the unease is caused by a lack of closure due to the Goblet ending the vision where it did"

"Why did the Goblet stop the vision there?", asked Professor Moody.

"The Goblet ran out of magic", said Dumbledore simply.

"How could it run out of magic Dumbledore? I've seen you spend hours in that pensieve of yours, and that thing is nowhere near as powerful as the goblet.", said Professor McGonagall

"Dumbledore's pensieve has never tried to show a memory to hundreds of people in one go", said a voice. Everybody turned to face the person who spoke, and saw Professor Babbling of the Ancient Runes department carefully examining something on a piece of parchment through a magnifying glass. She had more parchments littering the desk space in front of her, and didn't look up as she continued to speak,

"More than that, the extreme pain we all felt cost the Goblet a significant amount of magical reserves to create. That was probably the most magically-demanding part of the vision, and is the reason why the vision ended where it did"

"Speaking of the pain", piped up Flitwick, "that, and the darkening vision we experienced made the nightmares problem worse. Is there a way to dispel that part of the vision for the next memory?"

Professor Babbling shook her head, "I wouldn't dare try to mess with the Goblet's runes in that way at this stage in the tournament. The clusters are so complicated that we run the risk of missing something small, and causing the Goblet to activate the punishment cluster"

"The punishment cluster?", asked Professor McGonagall apprehensively.

"That is the rune cluster responsible for stripping the champions of their magic if they fail to show up to the tasks", said Professor Babbling, "There are numerous connections to that cluster, and I honestly get the impression that the clusters were specifically designed to punish the champions if anybody tries to tamper with the tournament after the champions are chosen. Any attempt to change the Goblet's runes runs the risk of stripping all four of the champions of their magic"

"We can't have that!", exclaimed Karkaroff

"Agreed Igor", said Dumbledore, "It looks like we have no choice but to endure whatever pain the Goblet inflicts on us in the next vision"

"Next vision?", barked Karkaroff, "I thought the Goblet only shows one per champion!"

"I thought so too Igor", said Dumbledore, "But the Goblet was supposed to extinguish itself when it was done showing all the memories. That has not happened"

"So what does that mean Albus?", asked Karkaroff

"That is what Professor Babbling, our Rune Master is trying to figure out", said Dumbledore gesturing towards said Rune Master, "Do you have any leads Bathsheda?"

Professor Babbling finally looked up from her parchments, and rubbed her eyes tiredly before she spoke,

"The runes are exceptionally complicated, and while I don't claim to be an expert on the Goblet, I have been able to decipher the sequences associated with memory recall that govern these decisions. I see two possibilities"

"The simpler possibility", continued Professor Babbling, "is that the Goblet intends to finish the memories from yesterday when its magic recovers. There are runic clusters that give a clear indication that the Goblet is capable of continuing the show if it ends a vision prematurely, but none of the runes appear to link with the possibility of magical depletion. Those links are primarily connected with other runic sequences that deliberately stop visions because they exceed the allotted time. This mechanism appears to exist to allow for very long shows to be spread out over several days"

"So, you think that in a few days, we will resume where we left off?", inquired Professor Sprout.

Professor McGonagall suddenly gasped and exclaimed, "That would mean we will begin with that pain!"

"That would be troublesome", said Professor Sprout, "but ending the vision properly might provide the closure our students need to deal with their nightmares"

"But our students shouldn't be subjected to that kind of hurt!", exclaimed Professor McGonagall, "Can't we just tell them how it ends to provide the closure?"

"Words are not likely to provide the closure here", said Professor Sprout grimly

Professor Babbling suddenly piped in, "This is a pointless discussion. The Goblet of Fire knows how many people are supposed to be in the Great Hall, the rune sequences here indicate that it makes note of that during the first vision. If that amount of people fail to show up for subsequent visions, the Goblet could interpret that as tampering with the tournament, and react accordingly"

"So, we have no choice, but to subject our students to this torture?", exclaimed Professor McGonagall shocked.

"We could cart in all the Azkaban prisoners for the next viewing. There should be enough to fill the quota", growled Moody

"Absolutely not!", shouted Professor McGonagall, "I will not have those sociopaths near our students!"

"Professors quiet down! Let's get back on topic", said Dumbledore, "It seems that we have no choice, but to accept that our Students will be exposed to another round of pain. Bathsheda, you said there are two possibilities, perhaps we can avoid the pain with the second one?"

Everyone turned to Professor Babbling hoping that the other possibility would indeed spare them from another round of pain

"The second possibility", said Professor Babbling, "is that two memories tied for first place, and so the Goblet will show both of them."

"What do you mean by 'tied for first place'?", asked Professor McGonagall with a hint of apprehension in her voice. It was clear that she didn't like the implications of this possibility any better than the first.

"The Goblet has an entire series of rune clusters dedicated to ranking memories. I have not been able to riddle out what the criteria are for the rankings, but these rune clusters are connected to the clusters responsible for selecting memories for viewing, and they are connected to the clusters responsible for selecting the champion. From what I see here, the Goblet ranks the memories of every single candidate in his category, and the candidate with the highest ranked memory becomes champion. In rare cases, two memories share that spot for the highest ranking, and so the Goblet shows both of those memories"

There was a silence as everybody digested this.

" _Albus!_ ", exclaimed Karkaroff, "Just how many Basilisks did Mr. Potter defeat wandlessly?"

"Just the one", Dumbledore assured him.

"Then what could possibly be equally as dangerous as a Basilisk?", inquired Madame Maxime

"That I'm not sure, I'm personally of the opinion that the Chamber was the most dangerous incident Mr. Potter ever faced, and nothing else even comes close", said Dumbledore frowning, "I believe we can safely say the Goblet will take the first option Bathsheda"

Before anybody could say anything else, Dumbledore turned to Moody and asked,

"Alastor, how goes your investigation into who put Mr. Potter's name into the Goblet?"

"Not well", growled Moody, "The magical residue scans yielded no useful information because the damn Goblet is so saturated with magic that all traces of tampering are long gone"

"Very well", sighed Dumbledore, "Any theories on who might have done it, how, and why?"

"I don't have any theories on who", said Moody carefully with a glare at Snape that contradicted his words, "but I've told you before that I suspect somebody put Mr. Potter's name into the Goblet under a fourth school to get him killed."

At Moody's statement, Professor Babbling suddenly paled, and started snapping her fingers, then she started arranged some of the parchments in front of her, carefully lining them up while intently examining them under her magnifying glass. Everybody looked at her weirdly.

"Is something the matter Bathsheda?", inquired Dumbledore.

"Give me a moment to check something Headmaster", said Professor Babbling distractedly, "I just had a very disturbing thought, and I sincerely hope I'm wrong"

There was a silence for a few minutes while Professor Babbling carefully examined the runes on her parchments. The levels of apprehension in the room grew as Professor Babbling's face grew more and more worried as she read the parchments before her. After a while, Professor Babbling put down the magnifying glass and put her head in her hands. Everybody looked at each other. The last time Professor Babbling reacted like that, she had some _very bad_ news.

"Bathsheda?", prodded Dumbledore

"Professor Moody", said Professor Babbling, "I sincerely hope you are wrong about Mr. Potter's name being put under a fourth school"

Professor Babbling took a sip from her coffee mug, and began, "In order for you to understand the problem, I need to better explain the memory ranking system that is responsible for choosing the champions and for selecting the memories to view. As you know, the Goblet ranks memories using criteria that are still beyond me, but I have seen enough runes to know that a major part of the ranking process is comparing the memories of one candidate to the memories of every other candidate. This comparison is an integral part of the memory ranking process"

"If Professor Moody is correct about Mr. Potter being added into a fourth school, then it's also safe to say that the perpetrator did not tell anybody about that, and that Mr. Potter is the _only one_ in his category. Therefore, the memory ranking system suddenly doesn't work. There are no other candidates in Mr. Potter's category to compare his memories against"

Professor Babbling took another sip of her coffee, and continued, "If there are no memory comparisons, then every single memory the Goblet uses to judge Mr. Potter has equal ranking ... of zero. It comes back to the question: if you invent a spell, but never tell anyone about it, does your invention mean anything?"

"The problem is that the Goblet uses every single memory the candidate ever experienced in its judgement. This means that normally, the Goblet needs to run comparisons of seventeen years of memories across many candidates when it makes its decision. This is the main reason that the Goblet was built to be such a powerful magical artifact. Sifting through all that information requires a considerable amount of magic"

" _Would you cease your babbling and get to the point already!?_ ", growled Moody.

Professor Babbling glared at Moody, and continued, "In Mr. Potter's case, we have fourteen years of memories that are all equally ranked at zero, therefore, we have fourteen years of memories that have tied for the memory viewing queue, and the Goblet's memory viewing runes are telling the Goblet to _show them all_ "

Silence.

"Let me get this straight", said Professor Vector shakily, "You're telling us that the Goblet is going to show all of Mr. Potter's memories _from birth?_ "

Professor Babbling nodded, and said, "I don't think the creators of the Goblet ever considered the possibility that a school would have only one candidate, and have that candidate's viability as a champion questioned enough to activate the memory viewing runes. The possibility is an inherent contradiction, so I can see them deliberately ignoring it when designing the Goblet. The space on the surface of the Goblet is limited enough without adding rune clusters to account for the highly improbable, or even impossible."

Professor Dumbledore frowned, "Bathsheda, if all the memories are ranked equally, then how did the Goblet know to show the basilisk incident yesterday?"

"The tie-management runes indicate that it uses level of fear as a sorting mechanism", replied Professor Babbling grimly, "I wouldn't blame Mr. Potter if he considers that incident to be the most frightening thing that has ever happened to him"

"So where does that leave us?", asked Professor Flitwick, "We can't allow the Goblet to show Mr. Potter's entire life to the world. That's a gross violation of privacy"

At this, Professor Babbling gave a hollow laugh, "Filius, the Goblet will not show Mr. Potter's entire life, that I can guarantee you"

"But I thought you said ...", began Professor McGonagall

"Oh, did I forget to give you all the punchline? Let me correct that oversight", said Professor Babbling

" _There's more?_ ", howled Moody.

"The Goblet was not built to show memories like that for prolonged periods of time, that kind of magical stress on the artifact is going to cause the runes to start wearing out. Eventually, something somewhere will snap, and the Goblet will either take that as tampering with the tournament, and activate the punishment runes, or one of the major runic conduits will snap, and cause the Goblet to explode."

The silence this time was loud. All the professors were looking at Babbling with horrified expressions on their faces.

"Trust Potter to break all the rules, even ancient ones we don't know about", muttered Snape, though without the usual venom in his voice.

"How big of an explosion are we talking about here?", asked Professor Flitwick.

"Well, the goblet is known as an extremely powerful magical artifact for a reason", said Professor Babbling, "I say it depends on the timing of the explosion. If the failure happens just prior to a magic failure like yesterday, it will probably take out half of the great hall. If the failure happens at full magical power, then we are talking about the equivalent of a muggle nuke. It will take out this entire castle, and the surrounding grounds"

"How much time do we have?", asked Dumbledore

"The runes are carved directly onto the surface of the Goblet", said Professor Babbling, "Those are the most durable kind you can create, so that gives us some leeway. If we constantly have to deal with memories like yesterday's, then I'd say we have two months tops"

"Alastor", said Professor McGonagall shakily, "I'm beginning to rethink my objections to carting the Azkaban prisoners here. Bathsheda, how certain are you of all this?"

"This is mostly speculation backed by evidence Minerva", said Professor Babbling, "There are large chunks of relevant runes I didn't have time to analyze yet, and I doubt I will be able to form a full picture for a few weeks yet, but unless one of these other runes changes the meaning somehow, I am very certain"

"Then we shall wait and see what the Goblet does before making any decisions", said Dumbledore, "In the meantime, I want Alastor to watch the Goblet during the visions for any sign of an imminent overload, and for Bathsheda to continue analyzing the Goblet's runic commands"

 **\- Meanwhile, in Madam Bones' office**

Madam Bones was nursing a splitting headache as she stared at a few specific lines in the transcript of Yaxley's veritaserum interrogation. Yaxley was caught trying to sneak into the prison cell rooms where Lucius Malfoy was being held, and when given three drops of veritaserum, the answers he gave were startling.

"Why were you trying to gain entry into the prison cells?" asked Bones

"To kill Malfoy", said Yaxley in a monotonous voice

Madam Bones was expecting to find that Yaxley was trying to free Malfoy, not kill him, so she asked "why?"

"Malfoy knows too much, and must be neutralized before he is thoroughly interrogated", said Yaxley

"What is it you think he knows?", asked Bones

"He knows the identities of all the Dark Lord's inner circle", said Yaxley

"Why does this knowledge concern you?", asked Bones

"Because my name is on the list", said Yaxley

This Madam Bones was expecting, she already had her suspicions about Yaxley. However, to put the matter on record properly, and prevent any misunderstandings, she needed to ask the question directly. That's where the interrogation took a turn into the surreal.

"Do you support the terrorist known as Lord Voldemort", asked Bones

"I _used to_ support him", said Yaxley

" _used to_?", inquired Bones, curious about the emphasis on those words. Veritaserum generally forces the speaker to be monotonous except for very special circumstances

"Yes, I _used to_ support him until I found out he's a filthy lying mudblood", said Yaxley, "If he ever returns, I will do everything in my power to finish him"

Madam Bones remembered the brief note she made when Tom Riddle changed his name to Voldemort in Harry Potter's memories. She didn't know if it would be important, but this was not how she imagined the topic would come up.

"Mudblood?", asked Madam Bones perplexed, "We looked into the matter, and his mother was a squib, not a muggle"

"A squib is no better than a muggle", said Yaxley with the same veritaserum-induced monotony, "that makes him a mudblood"

Madam Bones put down the transcript, and starting pacing the room. She had two options, arrest Yaxley, or pardon Yaxley. Normally, there would be no question here, but the fact that Yaxley had effectively denounced Voldemort under veritaserum suddenly turns the whole situation into a headache-inducing dilemma.

On one hand, she could kick his sorry ass into Azkaban, and send the message to the rest of similarly-minded death eaters that they have no choice, but to join forces with Voldemort regardless of their newfound disgust of him, just to avoid prosecution. Considering how many prominent members of society vanished shortly after Lucius's arrest, it's obvious this outcome would be a disaster if Voldemort returns.

On the other hand, she could pardon him, and send the message that there will be no consequences to the horrifying atrocities the death eaters committed during the last war. Looking at the enchanted window in her office, she noted that this dilemma hinged around the issue of Voldemort's potential return. She returned to her desk, and looked at the transcript again.

"Voldemort (please note that the subject flinched) is dead", said Bones, "Why would you need to finish him?"

"The Dark Lord has bragged many times that he has taken steps to guard against death", said Yaxley

"What steps?", asked Bones with a sense of dawning horror

"The Dark Lord didn't share the details with me", said Yaxley

"Who did he share the details with?", asked Bones

"I don't know, but I suspect Malfoy and Bellatrix", said Yaxley

Madam Bones had already scheduled veritaserum interrogations of both Malfoy and Bellatrix in Unspeakable Croaker's presence. This seems to be entering a realm of magic that is in Croaker's area of expertise. Officially, Madam Bones is waiting for the results of this upcoming interrogation before making a decision in Yaxley's case. Unofficially, this is nothing more than a delaying tactic. She doesn't believe the outcome of this upcoming interrogation will make the answer any clearer.

 **\- Riddle Manor**

Wormtail was standing there nervously while Voldemort read the letter their agent sent from Hogwarts.

"That fool", said Voldemort after taking off the glasses that Wormtail found in a rubbish bin down in the village, "The third task was so conveniently scheduled, and now _this!_ "

"Forgive me", said Wormtail, who had already read the letter, "But why does it need to be done during the third task? Why can't we take the boy now?"

" _Because_ , you ignorant rodent, the ritual has more requirements than the ones you needed to know about. For once thing, the ritual is at its strongest during the summer solstice, and the task is scheduled very close to it. Furthermore, the boy needs to be injured without me having a hand in it, or the blood we take from him won't be right"

"Why can't I injure him before we take the blood?", asked Wormtail.

"Because you doing it for the purposes of the ritual counts as me having a hand in it!", said Voldemort, "That was another reason why the third task was so convenient, the boy is guaranteed to be injured by the task itself, and I had no part in planning the details of that task"

"Yes master", said Wormtail quietly.

"In the meantime,", said Voldemort, "You better pray that Dumbledore's babbling idiot missed something important, and the Goblet won't show any more memories beyond the one it failed to finish. Oh, and Wormtail?"

"Yes master?", asked Wormtail nervously. The tone in which Voldemort asked his name never boded well.

"This is for picking a brat with such terrible eye-sight ... CRUCIO!"

 **=== Authors Notes ===**

Grand reviews guys! I'm glad that you guys are enjoying this :)

 **The Goblet**

As a programmer myself, and a fan of Stargate, just couldn't resist adding that twist with the Goblet when it came to me (When I wrote the original draft of that part, I was channeling Rodney McKay from Stargate Atlantis because I had seen one of those "Rodney discovers a computer problem that is threatening the entire city" episodes). It just seems to make sense that Harry's situation would cause the Goblet's magic to be exercised in ways it was never meant to, and to have some very strange consequences as a result. The best part is that this issue is occurring only because the Goblet decided to show memories, which explains why it never happened in Canon.

I'm already looking into all sorts of ideas on how this revelation will affect Voldemort's plan. Speaking of which, there is a very specific reason I gave voldy glasses. I challenge you all to find what that reason is …

 **Time**

I noticed a lot of the "characters read books" fanfics tend to have this thing where time is stopped (which makes sense given that the books are so long). I didn't see fit to do that here, because I didn't want to take out the time pressure that the tournament imposed on Harry. It would be a bit cheating if the Goblet froze time, and gave everyone more time to prepare for the tasks. It also leaves intact the immediate conflict that Harry needs to face (namely, the pending first task) on top of everything else the Goblet is causing.

 **Harry's Participation**

For those of you who are curious about this, Harry is indeed forced to participate in the tournament. As far as I am concerned, the fact that the Goblet picked Harry's memories instead of Crouch Jr.'s memories is confirmation of this. Though it would be interesting to see a spin-off of this where the Goblet connects to Crouch Jr's mind, and ends up showing Death Eater raids or something of the sort… what would the consequences be of THAT ?

 **Stargate crossover idea**

While writing this, and watching stargate, I entertained the idea of the Goblet showing a "previous life" or something of the sort as an excuse to show some Stargate stuff … just imagine how the wizarding world would react to the concept of an _entire city_ that can submerge underwater … or even fly. Then you have all these alien invasions of earth that Wizards would not be able to deal with ... how's that for a wake-up call? But the big cherry on the cake … the discovery that the muggles have managed to hide something as important as a _Stargate, or Atlantis_ from the wizards … when it's the wizards who are supposed to be the experts in hiding things of that magnitude

2/12 Edit: Some of you have voiced concerns about this fic becoming the crossover. I have no intention of doing that. If I end up writing the stargate crossover, it will be a separate story


	7. Ch 07: The Decision

**The Goblet 's Surprise**

Summary

As part of the Triwizard Tournament, the Goblet of Fire may re-ignite after choosing the champions. This is a rare part of the choosing ceremony during which the goblet justifies its choices by showing something about each champion that influenced its decision.

Chapter 7: The Decision

It was dinner a few days later, and the Goblet of Fire was burning with the same strength it had prior to Harry's vision. There was a great deal of excited chatter as people continued to speculate about why the Goblet was still lit. It had already filtered through the school that the Goblet had lit itself only because it needed to show something about each champion, but the fact that the Goblet had already shown the memories of all four champions has caused quite a bit of speculation on the matter.

Some of the things this speculation of the Goblet's intentions include are, continuing the interrupted vision, showing something from the tournament judges or other students, showing how the champions of previous tournaments won them, and showing more of Harry's memories. There were even some theories and it will show the memories of a past life, the memories of a Harry from an alternate reality, and even memories from the future.

"Your attention please!", demanded Dumbledore, and the excited chatter died at once.

"As you are all aware by now", said Dumbledore, "The Goblet will show us more memories of Mr. Potter, the question that remains unanswered is whether it will continue from where it left off a few days ago, or will it show another memory entirely".

Dumbledore paused to let this sink in, "If the Goblet choses the former, I must remind you that the pain from Harry's injury will return". Many people blanched at this, but others looked unconcerned. There was somewhat of a consensus among the gossipers that the chamber of secrets story is resolved, and the Goblet doesn't have anything of importance left to show there.

"So, without further ado, let's begin", said Dumbledore

As though the Goblet was waiting for Dumbledore to finish, the flame rose from the Goblet, and enveloped them all as it had done before. There was some confusion because the Goblet didn't attack anybody's mind this time to grab a memory, but they were left in doubt barely a minute longer as the Chamber of Secrets came into view again.

This time, they were not watching from Harry's eyes, but from an external point of view as Harry fought the Basilisk. There were no thoughts or emotions either, the entire thing resembled a typical muggle movie theater as they all watched Harry do battle from an outside perspective. Finally, Harry defeated the basilisk, and the beast was on the ground.

Though Harry barely showed it as he approached the place where Ginny and Tom were, everybody had first-hand experience with the pain that Harry was dealing with right now, and many sent him sympathetic looks, but those looks quickly changed to confusion as they all felt a slight pull, and the outside perspective they were all enjoying seemed to be slowly moving closer to Harry.

By the time that Harry was finishing up stabbing the diary, the outside perspective was rapidly approaching Harry's head, and many of the confused looks from earlier turned to alarm as they realized what was about to happen. Some of the muggleborns were wryly thinking that this vision should have started with a faceless narrator saying "Previously, in the adventures of Harry Potter". The outside perspective dissolved right as it was about to crash into Harry's head, and all the pain, thoughts and emotions that they had left off with a few days ago, came back with a vengeance.

Harry directed his failing eyes to look at the wound that he hadn't had a chance to examine yet even as he heard a gasp from where Ginny lay. She had woken up. He couldn't see much of the wound, but the pain as good as told him that it was serious. Through all the broken bones that Harry suffered at the Dursleys, he had become very familiar with the pain signals that his body sent him.

When your caregivers refuse to help with the broken bones, it becomes very important to know what the pain is telling you, and Harry had learned that there are two kinds of pain. The kind that said "Stop doing whatever you are doing, you're causing damage", and the other kind that said "Whatever you are doing, keep doing it and don't stop, it is necessary for the healing process". The difference between them helped Harry know if he was putting on the cast correctly.

The pain he was feeling now was definitely of the first kind, but Harry didn't know what he could do about it, and he briefly appreciated that his end does not come at Uncle Vernon's hand, despite fearing that outcome many times before. Resigned to the inevitable, Harry turned his attention to Ginny and looked up.

"Ginny", said Harry, surprised that he still had the strength to talk, but noticing that it took more effort than usual.

"Harry", said Ginny after turning around and spotting him, "It was me, but I swear, I didn't mean to! Riddle made me, and …", Ginny trailed off as her eyes widened, "Harry! You're hurt!". Harry noticed she saw the wound, and cursed himself for not covering it before. He did so now. Harry wanted to assure Ginny that none of this is her fault, but he remembered the amount of effort it took for him to simply say her name before, and decided to focus on more important things.

"Ginny, you need to get yourself out", he said, briefly wondering if that was even possible since the entrance opens with parseltongue, and the snake door closed behind him when he entered.

"Follow the chamber, and you'll find Ron", continued Harry as he resolved to save his strength, and use the last of it to hopefully tell the door to open from here. He hoped that Ginny would not linger. He didn't think he would have the strength to explain the situation, and still be able to open the snake door when Ginny reached it.

As a bird call captured their attention, In the Great Hall, Ginny's eyes widened at Harry's plan. She apparently realized how close she was to being trapped in the chamber of secrets with Harry's dead body. Back in the memory, Fawkes had just fluttered down in front of Harry. Harry could only assume it was Fawkes as that was the only red and gold thing he had seen since entering the chamber, and the bird call that announced his arrival strengthened that case.

Fawkes' mere presence seemed to energize him, and Harry decided the bird was giving him enough energy to say goodbye, so he obliged, "You were brilliant Fawkes, I just wasn't quick enough". Not sure how to continue, Harry noticed the red and gold blur move slightly, and couldn't tell what was happening.

Suddenly, the pain in his arm drastically changed. Where before, his entire wound was screaming at him " _get help now or you're dead!_ ", there was a trickle of the second kind of pain that said " _everything is under control as long as you don't move_ ". This more welcome kind of pain gradually covered up the first, and soon enough, even that pain was going away. Harry also noticed his vision began to return gradually, and he saw that Fawkes had his head lowered over the wound.

Something that Dumbledore said when he first met Fawkes came to mind. "Of course", said Harry with renewed strength, now noticing that talking took no effort anymore, "Phoenix tears have healing powers, Thanks".

As Harry and Ginny approached the snake door, Harry remembered the plan he came up with earlier, and was curious to know if it would have been necessary had Fawkes not shown up. He approached the door, and pushed hard. The door didn't budge. Ginny, apparently thinking that Harry needs help, joined him in the effort when Harry tried again, but even with their combined strength, the door didn't even shift slightly. It was as solid as a wall.

"Now what?", asked Ginny anxiously. Harry glanced at her, and then tried parseltongue.

" _open_ "

Ginny shivered, but there was a sudden flurry of grinding noises from within the door, and Harry wondered if the snakes were moving around again on the other side. Inwardly, he was thankful that he didn't need to find out if he had the strength to speak parseltongue earlier. Harry decided that this was one piece of information Ginny could do without.

The scene shifted, and reformed in Dumbledore's office. The headmaster was speaking to Harry and Ron

"You both realize of course, that in the past few hours, you have broken perhaps a _dozen_ school rules.", He paused, "There is sufficient evidence to have you both expelled!".

At this, there was an uproar in the Great Hall. Harry had just saved the school; how could Dumbledore be talking about expulsion? The reaction was worse because Harry's mind flashed briefly to the image of Privet Drive, and concern for his well-being was mingled with their outrage over the injustice of it all.

"Therefore, it is only fitting", continued Dumbledore, and the uproar in the Great Hall decreased at everybody started wondering how Harry managed to get out of this one.

"That you both receive", everybody leaned in with anticipation.

"Special awards for services to the school", concluded Dumbledore.

There was silence for a moment as everybody took in the fact that they got pranked by a year-old memory, and the Weasley Twins were the first to burst out laughing. Harry's elated emotional state at this turn of events only fueled the laughter. By the time everybody got themselves under control, Ron had already left, and the Harry's conversation with Dumbledore was well underway.

"… could have called Fawkes to you. Second, I sense that something is troubling you. Am I right Harry?"

Harry's mind returned to all of the concerns he had as the year progressed, many of which the Goblet had not shown in the viewing a few days ago, He decided to go with the most pressing one.

"It's just, you see sir, I couldn't help but notice certain things, certain similarities between Tom Riddle and me."

"I see", said Dumbledore, "Well, you can speak Parseltongue Harry, why?"

Harry didn't have an answer to that

"Because, Lord Voldemort can speak parseltongue.". there was some confused "huh?" around the Great Hall as Dumbledore paused to gather his thoughts.

"If I'm not mistaken Harry, he transferred some of his powers to you, the night he gave you that scar", finished Dumbledore.

"Voldemort transferred some of his powers to me?", asked Harry thunder-struck, as there were many gasps around the Great Hall.

Dumbledore nodded, "Not intentionally, but yes".

"So, the sorting hat was right, I should be in Slytherin", said Harry with a sense of panic growing inside of him. He didn't fancy being in a dorm with the likes of Malfoy. In the Great Hall, Harry saw many faces from all the houses look at him with questioning looks. Somehow, the idea that the sorting hat believes he should be in Slytherin, and it calling out Gryffindor, didn't add up.

"It's true Harry, you possess many of the qualities that Voldemort himself prizes. Determination, Resourcefulness, and if I may say so, a certain disregard for the rules."

"Why then, did the sorting hat place you in Gryffindor?", asked Dumbledore. And everybody quieted down as they awaited Harry's answer to the thousand-galleon question. It was one of those frustrating moments as Harry glanced at the sorting hat. With Cedric's memories, and even Fleurs, they tended to think their answer through before speaking, but Harry's impulsive nature extended even to his thought processes, and they had a frustrating second that extended to an eternity as they had to wait for Harry to say it out loud.

"Because I asked it to", said Harry with the dread continuing to grow.

Those questioning looks turned to shock, and he saw some people in the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables giving him looks that said "what's wrong with my house, why Gryffindor?". Whatever they were going to say was interrupted by Dumbledore's next exclamation.

"Exactly Harry, Exactly, which makes you different from Voldemort. It is not our abilities that show what we truly are, it is our choices"

In the following pause, there were a few outcries from the Slytherin table at what Dumbledore had just insinuated, and Harry saw Snape scowl at Dumbledore.

"You want proof that you belong in Gryffindor?", asked Dumbledore, and everybody's attention snapped back to the memory as Dumbledore continued, "Then I suggest you look more closely at this"

Dumbledore picked up the sword, and handed it to Harry, who looked at it and noticed an engraving on the blade near the hilt.

"Godric Gryffindor", read Harry, his panicking emotions now changing to relief, and the Great Hall was now in awe at seeing the legendary sword.

"Yes", said Dumbledore, "It'd take a true Gryffindor, to pull that out of the hat"

Harry smiled, and before he could say something else, the door behind him burst open with such force that it smashed loudly into the wall, and bounced back. Harry turned to see Lucius Malfoy framed in the doorway, fury in his face. Malfoy rushed in while Dumbledore greeted him as though Malfoy entered in a normal manner.

"Good Evening, Lucius"

Everybody watched the conversation, but nobody reacted to anything because they had all seen the details from the transcripts that the Daily Prophet published from Malfoy's trial a few days ago, However, when Harry came running after Malfoy, there were a lot of grins in the Great Hall. The trial transcript had hinted that Harry was responsible for Malfoy losing his elf, but never elaborated.

"Mr. Malfoy!", yelled Harry as he approached. "I have something of yours", and Harry shoved the diary into Malfoy's hand.

"Mine?", asked Malfoy annoyed, "I don't know what you're talking about"

"Oh, I think you do sir, I think you slipped the diary into Ginny Weasley's cauldron. That day at Diagon Alley"

"You do, do you?", asked Malfoy, as he handed the diary to Dobby exactly as Harry had hoped he would, "Why don't you … _prove it_ ".

As the watchers had access to Harry's thoughts, they knew that Harry had no intention to prove it, his accusation was nothing more than a distraction from his true mission, which was already complete. Madam Bones however, gave a smirk, and the Slytherin's were impressed in spite of themselves.

They watched as Dobby discovered the sock, and as Lucius Malfoy became furious.

" _Ava.._ ", but Malfoy did not get to complete his spell as Dobby sent him flying. The trial transcripts made no mention whatsoever that Malfoy had attempted an unforgivable and Madam Bones scowled, apparently, she wasn't a thorough as she should have been. On the other hand, the transcripts made no mention of the fact that Malfoy had been defeated by a house elf.

There were some predatory looks sent in Draco's direction as the view-screen lifted, and was sucked into the flames of the Goblet. After all the times that Draco Malfoy had threatened others with his father, he will never be able to live this down.

 **\- - - The graveyard of Little Hangleton - - -**

Voldemort was reading through the evening edition of the Daily Prophet that was brought to him by his agent from Hogwarts, which detailed the latest memory that was shown at the school. He half listened to what they were saying about Dumbledore and Malfoy

"… and then, that traitor got what was coming to him when his own house elf overpowered him", said Crouch, "My Lord, what will we do without the financial and political support of the Malfoys?"

"It is no matter", said Voldemort in his high cold voice, "The Goblet has chosen well, our plan to take the boy at the summer solstice is still on"

At this, both Wormtail and Crouch paled

"My … My lord … The Goblet …", stammered Wormtail

"My Lord, The Goblet has not extinguished itself after the vision, it will continue the show, and probably turn all the champions into squibs before the yule holiday"

There was a nasty silence as Voldemort continued to stare at the copy of the Daily Prophet, but his eyes were not moving. Crouch and Wormtail started shaking. When the silence became unbearable, Voldemort raised a shaking hand to his glasses, pulled them off, and lowered them, hand still shacking, onto the sofa he sat on. Then, he started speaking in a low hiss that promised a horrific death.

"Wormtail, Nagini, go and prepare the host"

Wormtail scurried out of the room with Nagini hot on his tail. The silence continued to stretch horribly between Voldemort and Crouch as Voldemort looked up, and then started screaming in a high-pitched baby voice.

"THAT DAMNED CUP! THAT THRICE CURSED CUP!"

"WE HAD SUCH A PERFECT PLAN, AND THE DAMNED GOBLET HAD TO RUIN EVERYTHING"

" _It was so perfect; the boy would get injured without us having to do anything_ "

"NOW THERE WON'T BE A THIRD TASK!"

"IF WE DON'T USE THE SUMMER SOLSTICE, HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO ENSURE HE GETS INJURED WITHOUT THE DRAGON KILLING HIM?"

"My lord, the dragon is likely to injure him no matter what we do, we can use that", said Crouch very quickly

"DO YOU KNOW HOW POWERFUL DRAGON FIRE IS? I'LL BE REBORN AS BARBECUE!"

"My lord, the dragon can injure him without its fire!", said Crouch quickly

" _Like you would be able to ensure that without invalidating the ritual_ ", Voldemort responded with suppressed rage, and threw the glasses at Crouch's feet, which shattered on impact.

"REPARO!", screamed Voldemort pointing his wand at the glasses, but he overpowered his spell so much that the glasses vanished. At that moment, Wormtail returned with Nagini carrying a bundle in his arms, from which they can hear a baby crying.

"Silence the damn brat", ordered Voldemort in a weak voice. The last spell he cast drained him of his remaining strength. Wormtail obliged with a _silencio_ , and then waited expectantly with the baby still in his arms.

Voldemort's body slumped as a shadowy mist rose from it, traveled to the baby in Wormtail's arms, and entered the bundle.

"Put me down", said the cold voice from the bundle in Wormtail's arms, and Wormtail quickly brought Voldemort back to the couch he just vacated. Crouch had already disposed of the body that Voldemort left behind.

Voldemort sat there for a moment, testing his new body, then he spotted Crouch, his eyes narrowed, and he continued his rant.

"YOU HAD ONE JOB CROUCH, I THOUGHT YOU COULD BE TRUSTED TO NOT SCREW THINGS UP, YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE YOUR RESEARCH PROPERLY!"

"FOR MORGANA'S SAKE, YOU TOOK RUNES, YOU KNOW HOW TEMPERMENTAL THEY ARE, AND YOU WERE ENTERING THE BOY IN AN UNUSUAL WAY!"

"YOU SHOULD HAVE REALIZED IT WAS YOUR JOB TO MAKE SURE THAT CURSED RUNE CONTRAPTION WOULDN'T GO INSANE!"

"YOUR INCOMPETANCE HAS SET US BACK A LONG WAY. NOW WE NEED TO RETHINK OUR ENTIRE PLAN, AND YOU WERE WORRIED ABOUT THE SUPPORT OF MALFOY!"

Voldemort calmed down after this, apparently deciding it's not a good idea to burn through the endurance of this new body, and a silence descended on the room. This time, nobody broke the silence, Voldemort's high pitched baby voice still ringing in their ears.

 **=== Authors Notes ===**

It's interesting to see the amount of long reviews increasing, especially after chapter 6.

 **Lucius Malfoy's entrance**

I know the way he opens the door is not the way the movie did it, but it's certainly canon in the books. In this case, I prefer the way the books did it :) I guess they didn't want to deal with having to replace that door a few times, or fix the wall, while Jason Isaacs practiced that scene many times until he got it right.

 **Voldemort's reaction**

PillPushr had an interesting idea that the glasses were for making him equal to Harry (eye-sight wise), and potentially having some comical consequences stemming from that. This had not occured to me, as I have been setting it up to have a "baby-voldemort having a hitler tantrum" scene since I started writing chapter 6. Interesting idea anyway.

On another note, the part where Voldemort sheds a body in the middle of his tantrum, posseses another body, and then continues with the tantrum like nothing happened, was inspired by a scene from Stargate SG. I couldn't find a youtube link, so if any of you want to see it, just find Season 8 Episode 16.

(SPOILER FOR STARGATE) – There is a scene near the end of the episode where Anubis does the exact same thing, only he was discussing strategy with Baal, not having a tantrum. I thought that was totally something voldemort might do.

(END SPOILER)

 **Stargate Crossover**

Many of you have voiced the concern that I would take the stargate crossover idea into this fic, I won't. If I do it, it will be a separate story. I know I made this comment in an edit on chapter 6, but many of you have already viewed the chapter, and I don't get the impression that you guys get email alerts on edits.


	8. Ch 08: Preparation

**The Goblet 's Surprise**

Summary

As part of the Triwizard Tournament, the Goblet of Fire may re-ignite after choosing the champions. This is a rare part of the choosing ceremony during which the goblet justifies its choices by showing something about each champion that influenced its decision.

Chapter 8: The Preparation

Even though the Goblet made it to the end of the vision in the last viewing, it spent enough time emitting Basilisk poisoning symptoms to the audience, that it went out of commission again for another few days. The fact that the Goblet didn't extinguish completely was already causing a stir in the legendary Hogwarts rumor mill as everybody tried to guess what the Goblet plans to do next.

As Hermione pointed out, the most reasonable explanation is that the goblet will show another memory from third or first year. However, this is the rumor mill we're talking about. Since when has the mill settled on the most reasonable explanation? While there is a group of people who agree with Hermione, the outlandish nature of the chamber of secrets incident has stirred the imaginations of the students.

Voldemort's apparent fixation on Harry, and his seeming ability to return from the dead, has resulted in a very large following of another theory as to what the Goblet will do. The new popular theory is that the Goblet will show an epic battle from the future in which Harry fights Voldemort in a final confrontation. The only things this group cannot agree on is where the battle will take place, and who will win, although some have suggested that Harry lost the battle, and his soul traveled back in time to try again.

Of course, as soon as people started talking about the Goblet showing something from the future, more minor theories came up where the Goblet might show Harry competing in one of the tasks … before the task in question happens. This minor theory, while not as prominent as the final battle theory, caused Bathsheda Babbling to return to studying the Goblet's runes to figure out if such a decision on the Goblet's part might cause the Goblet's tournament tampering detection runes to activate. Her concern was partially fueled by the definite presence of time runes that are not used for tracking time.

With Harry's defeat of the Basilisk and of Voldemort for the second time (they don't yet know about quirrelmort), Harry was glad to have a ready made excuse to hunker down in the library, where Madam Pince would do all the work in keeping potential annoyances away. The rest of the school might be focused on the Goblet itself, but Harry didn't have the luxury of forgetting about the looming first task.

With less than two weeks remaining, and still no concrete idea on what he will be facing, Harry continued his project of finding spells that would be useful in any of the encounters he had thus far, and learning them. The research was driven by a few criteria: the spells must affect the magical creature's sense of smell, sight or hearing. The spells must also be able to affect those senses without being cast directly at the magical creature. The last part is necessary due to the creature's likelihood of being resistant to magic.

So far, with Hermione's help he identified several spells that they already learned that he can use:

Levitation Charm: drop something on the creature's head (Hermione argues that this satisfies their criteria because being concussed affects the senses)

Lumos: With a bit of extra power, this can be used to temporarily blind the beast

Serpensortia: Harry is a bit reluctant about this one after what happened in second year, but there is no denying that these little critters could act as a distraction, or even a way to bring down the creature if they manage to get a bite in.

Engorgement Charm: Not really something to use on its own, but if you're using the levitation spell to drop something on top of the creature, casting this spell to make it bigger before it makes contact might be a practical thing to do

That was the extent of all the spells they already know, and so they moved on to making a list of spells they are yet to learn.

Accio: A spell they will soon start learning in Charms class, might be useful in acquiring any rocks that are out of reach for the concussing levitation treatment. Harry considers the usefulness of this one a long shot.

Silencing Ward: a very advanced alternative to the silencing charm that Harry can cast on himself and still maintain the ability to vocalize spells. The key is that the creature he is facing won't be able to hear a thing, not even footsteps. The downside is this spell requires fifth year knowledge of ancient runes and charms.

Incarcerous: Conjures ropes, with potentially many uses depending on where they land. Harry could see using this to force the mouth of the creature shut so that poisonous fangs aren't a problem.

Disillusionment Charm: Since Harry doesn't want to make his cloak public knowledge, this method of hiding from sight is on the list.

And many many more.

Harry already began practicing some of those spells on the second list, while continuing to look through their previous years to see if they could use some of those spells in creative ways to get an edge. During their exploration of the standard book of spells grade five, they came upon a spell that that Harry nearly dismissed: the conjunctivitis curse.

They were about to move on when they noticed a note in the spells description that if it was aimed at the eyes of even the most magically resistant creature, it will cause a great deal of pain, and blind the affected eye. This combined with the way Harry defeated the basilisk made them start coming up with a list of spells that can be used if aimed at a weak point such as the eyes or the mouth.

Conjunctivitis Curse, Slug Vomiting Hex (rationale here is the beast won't be focusing on Harry if it's busy vomiting), and Densaugeo. That last one sparked a discussion.

"Hermione, the last thing I need is to give the creature longer teeth", exclaimed Harry when Hermione insisted that they consider this spell.

"Harry, you're forgetting that Malfoy used this spell the other day as a form of attack! Why would he use it against you if all it did is open up the possibility for you to bite him?"

"How I am supposed to know how that his mind works? Maybe he was hoping I would shield it back at him, so he can get the benefits of his own spell!"

"You're giving that pompous brat too much credit Harry, and are you trying to say that I got some sort of benefit from Malfoy's spell Harry?", cried Hermione.

Harry suddenly remembered how distraught Hermione was after that incident, though he assumed at the time it was due to Snape's caustic comment.

"No, that's not what I meant", stammered Harry, "you're not the kind of person to bite somebody"

"Harry, those teeth kept growing all the way to my waist by the time I got to the hospital wing. My biggest fear was that I would trip, fall on top of those teeth, and break them", said Hermione as Harry winced at the last part.

"So, you think this spell would force the creature to be extremely careful", said Harry and Hermione nodded. Harry wrote the spell down. Giving the creature something to worry about was okay in his book.

They left the library to go to one of the side classrooms so that Harry can practice some spells in peace. When they got there, Hermione brought up a concern that Harry was thinking about himself.

"Harry, what will we do if the Goblet shows our third year next?"

"You mean if it shows how we rescued Snuffles with that spinner of yours?", asked Harry, "I've been wondering about that too, and the only thing I can think of is they would hopefully be too distracted by the fact that Snuffles is innocent and Wormtail is alive. They might even forgive us given the circumstances if the Goblet forces them to see the truth. If worst comes to worst, Dumbledore can take all the blame, my memories will definitely implicate him as the one who told you to use the spinner"

"I'm not talking about the rescue of Snuffles Harry", said Hermione, "I admit that is a concern, but I'm more concerned about how the purebloods will react when they learn that such a rare and powerful magical artifact was given to a mudblood"

"Don't call yourself that foul name Hermione!", exclaimed Harry.

"Don't worry Harry, I was only framing it in the way the purebloods will", said Hermione.

"Maybe it won't get that far", mused Harry, "We were attacked by hundreds of dementors before our trip with the spinner, maybe it will run out of magic reproducing that horrible experience, and never make it to the spinner adventure"

"We've already established that the goblet will continue visions where it left off Harry, all that will do is delay the inevitable", said Hermione after a shudder when she remembered the dementor incident.

"In fact,", started Hermione, "I'm hoping the goblet will run out of magic at that point, the last thing we need is the ministry raising a stink about the spinner so that they can distract everyone from their failures regarding Snuffles"

"What does it matter if the goblet runs out of magic?", asked Harry," you said yourself it will just continue the story later"

"It will delay the ministry getting that excuse for another few days, hopefully they will exonerate snuffles before the Goblet recovers", said Hermione

"Trials take longer than a few days", said Harry skeptically, "and that doesn't change the outrage that will occur from the purebloods. I don't know what we can possibly do to change that"

"We should go to Dumbledore and see what he says about this", said Hermione

"What?", asked Harry suddenly wary, "what could he do?"

"I don't know, but you said yourself he as good as told us to use the spinner and your memories will implicate him. He will need to use that brilliant brain of his to come up with a way to get us all out of this problem, even if it's just to save himself"

"Alright let's go", said Harry, still skeptical about Dumbledore helping them, but trusting Hermione.

They made their way to Professor McGonagall's office since they don't know the password to Dumbledore's office, and Hermione pointed out that she was in on the time turner thing, so would be involved in whatever consequences come from it.

Professor McGonagall looked up when the duo entered her office.

"How may I help you Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger?"

"We need to see Professor Dumbledore, immediately!", said Harry

"I'm afraid Professor Dumbledore is not here", said McGonagall, "He received an urgent owl from the Ministry and left"

Harry was getting a distinct sense of déjà vu, and was beginning to wonder if they should have asked Professor Flitwick instead.

"Professor", said Hermione, "this is about that device you gave me last year"

Professor McGonagall raised her eyebrows

"What could be so concerning that you need to see the headmaster immediately?", asked the Professor.

"The Goblet …", began Harry

"Ah!", interrupted the professor as her eyes widened in understanding, "say no more Mr. Potter, you and Ms. Granger used that device in some incident that you are absolutely sure the Goblet will deem worthy of showing to the world"

Harry and Hermione glanced at each other and nodded.

"Then why do you need to see the headmaster Ms Granger? As I recall, it was _I_ who gave you that device, not the headmaster"

"That's why we came to you first Professor", began Hermione, "Dumbledore gave us permission to use it in the … incident"

"I see", said the professor, "I will inform the headmaster when he returns, in the meantime, let us pray to Merlin that the Goblet doesn't recover tonight. Ms. Granger, may you wait outside? I wish to speak to Mr. Potter alone"

Hermione left the office, and the Professor immediately rounded on Harry

"Mr. Potter, may I know the reason why your Transfiguration grades have slipped since this goblet fiasco started?"

Harry sighed, he knew this conversation was going to come up eventually. It wasn't just transfiguration, but most of his other classes as well.

"Because of the first task professor, I've been focusing all my time on preparing for it"

"How could you prepare for an unknown task Mr. Potter?"

Harry told her what he researched about the tournament, and how he's been preparing for a confrontation with _any_ magical creature.

"… fact of the matter is, none of animal transfigurations we've been doing recently will help if the animal in question is magically resistant", finished Harry

Professor McGonagall seemed impressed with his reasoning in spite of herself.

"While I appreciate your reasoning Potter, I cannot allow you to fall behind in your Transfiguration education", said Professor McGonagall as she got up, and walked over to a bookshelf. She picked out a book, walked over to Harry and handed it to him.

"Transfiguration of Composition", Harry read the title out loud and looked at his Professor questioningly.

"I thought professors are not allowed to help me in the tournament", said Harry.

"I never said that was for the tournament Mr. Potter", said Professor McGonagall, "Professors are still allowed to help their students in academic matters, and your grades have shown a need for it, Dismissed"

Harry found Hermione waiting for him in the hallway when he left the office

"What did Professor McGonagall want?", asked Hermione

"Later", said Harry, "Let's get to the classroom"

They made their way to the classroom, and Hermione immediately rounded on Harry, who showed her the book that Professor McGonagall gave him.

The book turned out to be a very detailed guide for wizards who want to go into crafting, and use their wands to create any kind of shape from any kind of material. Wizards wouldn't willingly do things the barbaric muggle way of chipping away at stone, or hammering red-hot steel swords. The catch is that transfiguring certain materials is easier than transfiguring other materials. Shaping clay is easier than shaping stone, and so the basic principle of the book is to change the stone to clay, shape it into whatever you want (using magic or your hands), then change it back into stone, or whatever other material you want.

At first it wasn't clear how this knowledge would be useful in a fight against, say, a chimaera, but Harry was slowing getting an idea as they saw many warnings about transfiguring certain types of substances. If a novice crafter is not careful, they might transfigure a substance that would eat away at their desk (or their hands if they were holding it at the time), they might transfigure a substance that would instantly disperse into a cloud of toxic particles, or worse, a substance that would violently explode the instant the transfiguration was finished.

The warnings were not unlike those given by potions masters, spell crafters, or rune architects. There was even a chapter dedicated to safety guidelines to follow when transfiguring a substance, you never tried before, and even various spells the book demands you master before you try anything to prevent accidents.

Naturally, any discipline that needs so many safety warnings is weaponizable, and the book acknowledges this by having a few chapters dedicated exclusively to uses in battle. Simple things like transfiguring the robes of the enemy wizard to stone, instantly heating the stone they are standing on so it spontaneously goes molten, and more advanced things like conjuring wolves composed of molten steel, or rapidly cooling the nitrogen in the air that your opponents are breathing to give them a serious liquid nitrogen problem inside their own lungs.

Speaking of Nitrogen, the book introduces a very outdated version of the periodic table of the elements, and uses this throughout the whole book to explain where everything fit in the bigger picture. This shocked Hermione to the core, since Professor Snape made it very clear that the wizarding world doesn't use such primitive muggle chemistry. Here is a book that embraces it.

Fortunately for Harry's time sensitive concerns, the chapter on warnings and safety procedures doesn't come until after the book thoroughly explains stone and mass transfigurations, and one spell in there already caught his eye if he wished to go for the "drop a stone on its head" plan. The spells for mass manipulation allow him to make something lighter or heavier depending on what he wishes to do. If he mastered them, he could make a massive stone very light so that it's easier to cast the levitation spell, and at the right moment, increase the mass to something crazy so that it falls with the weight of a heavy boulder. The book warns for powerful wizards to not overdo it when increasing mass, or the stone they are working with will crash right through their worktable with enough force to create a meteor impact crater. Harry scoffed at that warning, he doesn't fancy himself as powerful as Dumbledore.

The one thing about the book that deflated Harry's spirits is a lot of the spells that excited him the most are 6th or 7th year level. In fact, it seems the only reason Professor McGonagall thought this book would help him is that the book was intended as a guide for a crafting student throughout his Hogwarts career. There are spells targeted towards 2nd years in the book, and each chapter has recommendations for what year of Hogwarts you must be in before you should start that chapter. Fortunately, the basic stuff like changing shape using clay, and mass, is oriented towards 2nd and 3rd years, but after the safety guidelines chapter, the difficulty climbs quickly into the 5th year, and most of the book hangs around the 6th year. The fact that this books seems to be written with apprenticeship in mind made Harry wonder about Professor McGonagall's intentions.

At dinner, they entered the Great Hall as usual, and noticed that Professor Dumbledore was still absent from his high chair, but that didn't last long as soon enough, Dumbledore entered the Great Hall closely followed by Amelia Bones, Minister Fudge, Mr. Weasley, and a pink lady who looked remarkably like a toad. Except for Mr. Weasley, they have been showing up to every meal just in case the Goblet decided to recover.

The moment Dumbledore reached the front of the Hall where the Goblet stood, the Goblet suddenly let loose a burst of flame that shaped itself into a ring of blue flames around the rim. It was a subtle effect, but it caused the entire hall to go silent in seconds. It did the same thing the day it finished showing the Chamber of Secrets incident.

"I see we will be getting another viewing today", said Dumbledore, and the Goblet attacked Harry again with that memory stealing fire, and plunged them all into a timeline again. They noticed that the dart on Harry's second year was greyed out, Harry presumed it was because they've already seen the chamber of secrets. This time, Harry was paying more attention, and saw the Goblet clearly highlight the dart on the third year before the timeline vanished.

A scene in the Leaky Cauldron formed as Mr. Weasley took Harry aside.

"Harry, there are some within the Ministry who would discourage me from divulging what I'm about to reveal to you, but I think that you need to know the facts. You are in danger, grave danger"

Harry thought he knew where this was going, so asked, "Has this anything to do with Sirius Black sir?"

"What do you know about Sirius Black Harry?"

"Only what he has escaped from Azkaban"

"Do you know why?"

Harry suspected, but was still clinging to hope that this year will be somewhat normal, so refused to give voice to his suspicions, he shook his head.

"Thirteen years ago, when you stopped …"

"Voldemort", finished Harry, with the slight hope that this would derail Mr. Weasley.

"Don't say his name!" exclaimed Mr. Weasley.

"Sorry …", said Harry, not sorry at all.

"When you stopped, _you know who_ ", said Mr. Weasley with an emphasis on the last part, "Black lost everything, but to this day he still remains a faithful servant, and in his mind, you are the only thing standing in the way of _you know who_ returning to power. And that is why he has escaped from Azkaban. To find you ..."

There was no more denying where this was going, but Harry still refused to give voice to it until the silence became unbearable.

"And kill me", finished Harry

The silence continued, and the look of pity on Mr. Weasley's face confirmed his statement. Eventually, Mr. Weasley recovered.

"Harry I want you to swear to me that whatever you might hear, you won't go _looking_ for Black"

Harry didn't see this one coming, and responded before he could give it any more thought,

"Mr. Weasley, why would I go looking for someone who wants to kill me?"

Mr. Weasley seemed to have taken that as a promise and left, leaving Harry to think about it and figure out what it means to him. Harry could see why Mr. Weasley would be concerned about Harry _looking_ for Black given what happened in his first and second years, but in both cases, Harry could not come up with what he did wrong to warrant Mr. Weasley's request.

In both cases, Harry might have had his "saving people thing" influencing his decision, but there was also the selfish reason of not wanting to lose his true home. Harry decided he did nothing wrong in both of those cases, and decided he's not sure what Mr. Weasley was getting at. If Black threatened Hogwarts or his friends in any way, he would certainly go looking for him. He'd gone without the security of a true home or friends for far too long to lose either of them to some homicidal maniac.

He'd already made the decision between Hogwarts and his life twice before, and if Voldemort or a giant snake weren't enough to scare him off, what chance does the so-called "second in command" have? With the knowledge that Black is likely to go to Hogwarts, Harry resolved to stay on his guard. Perhaps that is what Mr. Weasley wanted. In the Great Hall, Harry noticed Mr. Weasley had his face in his hands.

 **=== Authors Notes ===**

Hey everybody, I'm back. I see many of you missed me :)

My delay was caused by a combination of work and writers block. The writer's block is a weird one. I know exactly what I want to do for the visions themselves, and even the first task, but the problem is … getting the story to these points with chapters like this one.

One thing that annoyed me with some other GOF fics is when Harry is somehow able to get superb grades in school while focusing on the tournament. With the kinds of spells school teaches, and the kinds of spells needed for the tournament, I find it more likely that Harry wouldn't be able to muster the motivation needed for the school spells since he genuinely has bigger problems, and needs all the time he can get to find and master the tournament spells. Though I don't mention it here, I can even imagine him cutting some of the more useless classes such as History of Magic. The tournament does after all excuse him from end of year exams.

Now with Fudge present and the pink toad in attendance, how many of you are hoping the Goblet will show the entire time turner incident in this particular viewing?


End file.
